Towards a Conceptual Framework for Community-Based Psychosocial Interventions Promoting Adolescent Mental Health: Perspectives from the Global South

Adolescent mental health constitutes a significant global challenge, disproportionately affecting low and middle-income countries. In Sri Lanka, factors such as post-conflict legacies, socioeconomic inequality, and the weakening of community protective mechanisms have increased adolescent vulnerabilities. However, a comprehensive conceptual framework to guide community-based psychosocial interventions remains absent. This paper introduces an integrated, multidimensional framework that synthesizes Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological systems theory, Putnam's (2000) social capital framework, and Ungar's (2012) social-ecological resilience theory. The framework organizes community-based psychosocial interventions into four interdependent domains: relational and family systems, peer and social network dynamics, community structures and institutional linkages, and cultural and contextual responsiveness. Three cross-cutting principles participatory engagement, cultural humility, and a social justice orientation support all domains, promoting multilevel, culturally grounded, and structurally transformative approaches in contrast to biomedical paradigms. This framework provides guidance for social workers and policymakers in developing interventions that enhance family support, peer relationships, service coordination, and cultural responsiveness. Additionally, it establishes a foundation for policy reform and future research on the implementation and evaluation of community-based interventions.