ABSTRACT
Mental illness is one of the most common health issues faced by students. For example, 1 in 5 children will be diagnosed with a mental illness between the ages of 4–17, and 1 in 10 children experiences mental illness that severely impairs daily functioning (Merikangas et al., 2010). Additionally, approximately 70% of chronic mental health problems begin to develop during childhood (Costello, He, Sampson, Kessler, & Merikangas, 2014; Stewart & Hirdes, 2015), and a history of mental illness has been found in 59–70% of adolescent suicide attempts (Holland, Vivolo-Kantor, Logan, & Leemis, 2017; King, Arango, & Foster, 2018). The acute and chronic consequences of mental illness have resulted in increased demands for mental health treatments for children and adolescents in schools (Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, 2016).
