Mental health measurement
The MMAPP toolkit.
Measuring Mental Health among Adolescents and Young People at the Population Level — a questionnaire, a set of indicators, and the operational guidance needed to adapt and apply them. Developed by UNICEF and partners since 2018 to address the lack of reliable population-level measures of adolescent and youth mental health.
May 2026 · Open access under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Preprint. These are the May 2026 preprint versions. Check for a final release before citing.
Download the toolkit
Annexes and implementation tools
- Annex A — Questionnaire for data collectionThe MMAPP questionnaire itselfPDF ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- Annex B — Rationale for inclusion of itemsWhy each item is in the instrumentPDF ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- Annex C — Relationship of items to DSM-5 and ICD-11Mapping to clinical classificationsXLSX ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- Annex D — Domain 1 scoring guideHow to score and apply cut-offsPDF ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- Annex E — Cultural adaptation recommendationsItem-wording guidance by contextXLSX ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- Annex F — Cultural adaptation process templateWorking template for the adaptation processXLSX ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- Annex G — Focus group discussions for adaptationGuidance and templatesPDF ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- Annex H — Adjusted population prevalence calculatorSpreadsheet calculatorXLSX ↗ (opens in a new tab)
- Annex I — Global list of indicators and reporting templatesStandardised indicators for reportingPDF ↗ (opens in a new tab)
What the toolkit covers
- 01Overview of the MMAPP initiative
- 02Domains, indicators and questionnaire development
- 03The MMAPP questionnaire
- 04Processes and considerations for implementation
- 05Scoring, cut-offs, indicators and reporting considerations
- 06Next steps for the initiative
Who it’s for
- ResearchersUsing MMAPP data to understand adolescent and youth mental health
- Household survey expertsGenerating population-based estimates
- Programme managers and field staffPlanning, implementing and evaluating across any sector
- Youth leaders and advocatesParticipatory data collection, made locally relevant
- Policy makers and service providersMonitoring, policy and service design
The toolkit is designed to be adapted. Cultural adaptation — of item wording, of administration, of interpretation — is a core feature rather than an afterthought, and Annexes E to G exist to support it. Questions or feedback: ITY-MNCAH-Data@unicef.org.