Annals of Medicine

Integrating Mental Health Care into Routine Sexual and Reproductive Health Services for Adolescents and Older Mothers Across Global Settings

Adolescent and older mothers face intersecting challenges that compromise both their sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and mental well-being. Adolescent motherhood often coincides with stigma, disrupted education, economic hardship, and limited access to healthcare, while older mothers, particularly those of advanced maternal age, contend with higher obstetric risks, pregnancy-related anxiety, and competing caregiving and work demands. These stressors heighten risks of depression, anxiety, and poor maternal outcomes, which in turn affect child health and development. Yet mental health services remain siloed from SRH care across many health systems globally, in low-, middle-, and high-income countries alike, leaving both groups underserved. Current SRH services, including antenatal care, family planning, and prevention of sexually transmitted infections, often focus primarily on physical health while neglecting mental health screening and counselling. This gap perpetuates cycles of poor outcomes: untreated depression reduces adherence to antenatal visits, while anxiety undermines uptake of contraceptive services.

This topic matters because it addresses a gap in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) programming: mental health and reproductive health are treated as separate service tracks, even though adolescents and older mothers often face both. Early motherhood and advanced maternal age are associated with depression, anxiety, and psychosocial distress, yet routine antenatal, postnatal, and family planning services rarely screen for these conditions. By foregrounding "integration," the topic signals a shift from siloed care toward person-centred, holistic care across the reproductive life course. It also aligns with WHO calls for integrated, responsive health systems, making the study timely and policy-relevant. Specifying adolescents and older mothers focuses on two groups with distinct vulnerabilities: stigma, school dropout, and poverty among adolescents; obstetric risk and anxiety among older mothers. The global framing enables direct comparison of integration models, including low-cost task-shifting approaches, across low-, middle-, and high-income settings, and informs scalable, context-appropriate health policy.

Adolescent and older mothers face intersecting challenges that compromise both their sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and mental well-being. Adolescent motherhood often coincides with stigma, disrupted education, economic hardship, and limited access to healthcare, while older mothers, particularly those of advanced maternal age, contend with higher obstetric risks, pregnancy-related anxiety, and competing caregiving and work demands. This Article Collection explores strategies, evidence, and implementation experiences for integrating mental health support into routine SRH services for these populations.

Subtopics

• Prevalence and determinants of depression, anxiety, and psychosocial distress among adolescent and older mothers
• Models of integrated mental health–SRH service delivery (antenatal, postnatal, family planning)
• Task-shifting and health workforce capacity for integrated care
• Adolescent and older mothers-responsive counselling and psychosocial support interventions
• Barriers and facilitators to integration at policy and facility levels
• Measurement and outcome indicators for integrated care

Keywords

• Adolescent and older mothers
• Mental health integration
• Sexual and Reproductive health (SRH)
• Global settings
• Person-centred/integrated health services

Guest Advisors

Dr. Desmond Klu is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Health Research, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Volta Region, Ghana. He serves as an academic researcher and advocate for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), with a strong commitment to inclusive, community‑driven approaches to health policy across Africa. He also serves as an Associate Editor for Annals of Medicine in the Public Health section.

Dr. Emmanuel Dziwornu is a Senior Lecturer and the Head of the Department of Psychological Medicine and Mental Health, School of Medicine, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho. He is a Clinical Psychologist by profession. Emmanuel has years of clinical practice experience in Ghana. He is a pioneer in disaster psychology research in Ghana. Emmanuel has a strong interest in mental health, positive psychology, and wellbeing among diverse populations in low-resource settings.

Dr. Phidelia Theresa Doegah a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Non-Communicable Diseases Research within the Institute of Health Research. As a public health researcher and a social-behavioural scientist, my work lies at the intersection of population studies and behavioural health, with a primary focus on addressing complex health disparities in Ghana and by extension low- and middle-income settings.

Submission Instructions:

All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo full peer-review; the Guest Advisor will not be handling submitted articles unless they are an editorial board member. The Guest Advisors declare no conflicts of interests. Please review the journal’s aims and scope and author instructions prior to submission.

Please submit your manuscript through Taylor & Francis's Submission Portal.

During the first step of the submission process (under the "Manuscript Details" heading), you will find the question "Are you submitting your paper for a specific special issue or article collection?" Click the radio button for "Yes". Next, you will be prompted to select the "Special Issue or Article Collection name" from the dropdown menu. Choose "Integrating Mental Health Care into Routine Sexual and Reproductive Health Services for Adolescents and Older Mothers Across Global Settings" from the list. This will ensure that your manuscript is considered for inclusion. Please also select the Public Health section for your manuscript.

The manuscript submission deadline is 31 August 2027.

If you have any questions about this Article Collection or APC discounts, please contact Commissioning Editor Francis Straw at francis.straw@tandf.co.uk