Adolescence in crisis: Insights from the 2024 ESPAD report and a nursing perspective

argues that the adolescent well-being crisis is not primarily a psychiatric phenomenon but a social and educational one. The dominance of therapeutic and pharmacological responses has obscured the preventive and relational dimensions of care. Nursing, with its foundations in empathy, communication, and community engagement, offers a pathway toward a new preventive paradigm-one that unites evidence and humanity. Drawing on nursing taxonomies (NANDA-I, NIC, and NOC) and contemporary pedagogical frameworks, this article reframes prevention as an educational and ethical responsibility that extends beyond clinical boundaries.By integrating insights from epidemiology, pedagogy, and nursing science, the article calls for a human-centered transformation of adolescent health policy and professional education. Empowering nurses to lead preventive action can bridge the gap between public-health data and lived experience, restoring emotional literacy, connection, and purpose among young people. The next revolution in adolescent mental health will not be purely technological or therapeutic-it will be profoundly human.