TY - JOUR T1 - Improving the care of adolescents in general practice JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 216 LP - 217 DO - 10.3399/bjgp14X679552 VL - 64 IS - 622 AU - Louise Hyldborg Lundstrøm Y1 - 2014/05/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/64/622/216.abstract N2 - There is a puzzling gap between the high prevalence of mental health disorders in adolescents and the low detection rates by GPs.1 From the point of view of a physician in child and adolescence psychiatry, it seems necessary to explore this area to prevent, identify, and treat health problems in this patient population as early and appropriately as possible. Even though adolescents may be vulnerable due to a great amount of biological, psychological, and social transformations in their lives, they also have the potential for significant and long-lasting effects of healthcare interventions. Therefore, supportive and well-organised interventions in this period of life may reduce the burden of mental disorders in adult life. The articles in this issue highlight the important role that general practice plays in this clinical area.Overall, the prevalence of mental health and psychosocial problems in primary care is high.2 Despite this, there is a scarcity of evidence on which treatments to prefer, and the generalisability of findings to other settings or countries has also to be clarified.The need for early identification of mental health problems has been highlighted by a recent study indicating that subthreshold depression is a precursor to major depressive disorder in children and adolescents.3 Even though patients with subthreshold depression do not fulfil all diagnostic criteria of major depressive disorder, the impact of subthreshold … ER -