Positive Mental Health Promotion: State of the Field and Next Steps

This commentary proposes a step forward in advancing the field of Positive Mental Health Promotion (PMHP). PMHP has the potential to dramatically change the way research informs interventions (e.g., community-level programing) and to create a greater impact on population mental health, but has been slow to come to fruition. This may be because the term mental health is used inconsistently across studies, which blurs the distinction between mental health and mental ill-health. Consequently, many programs have instead aimed to improve individual-level positive feelings only or only measured a reduction in mental ill-health. Standardized measurement can help bridge this research-practice gap.