Objectives

Scoping review of the existing literature available specific to child and adolescent mental health in Tanzania.

Methods

An extensive literature search of PubMed, Scopus, Medline and Embase was undertaken to identify studies that focused specifically on mental illness in children and young people in Tanzania. This included neurological and functional disorders, affective disorders, psychosis, epidemiological, intervention and treatment‐based studies. Qualitative analysis of the studies was then undertaken to assess what is currently known about the subject, how reliable this information is and to identify areas for further research.

Results

23 studies were included in the final synthesis, which could be broadly split into studies focussing on the prevalence and incidence of child and adolescent mental illness, hypothesised causes and correlations, identified treatments and interventions and qualitative studies of human experience.

Conclusion

There is a dearth of published research regarding child and adolescent mental health in Tanzania. Although some high‐quality studies allow us good insight into the epidemiology of mental illness, interventional studies are often small and low‐power, and significant correlational relationships are yet to be drawn. There is significant scope for further child and adolescent mental health research in Tanzania.