Private initiatives aimed at preventing mental health problems and promoting the emotional well-being of children and adolescents are "partial and unequal," according to a report prepared by UNICEF Spain, Zurich Seguros, and Z Zurich Foundation, which examines the policies of 57 companies in the leisure and entertainment, technology, fashion, aesthetics, and insurance sectors.
"Companies impact the emotional well-being and mental health of children," emphasized this Wednesday the president of UNICEF Spain, María Ángeles Espinosa, during the presentation of the study, released on the eve of World Mental Health Day. The document analyzes to what extent companies integrate the protection of childhood and adolescence into their strategy and business decisions.
To prepare the report, five sectors with the greatest potential influence on minors were selected based on a literature review. Subsequently, in a sample of companies, those actions that can contribute to mitigating risks to their emotional well-being were reviewed. These measures are grouped into three main blocks: products and services, advertising and marketing, and work and family environment.
In the area of products and services, subcategories such as age appropriateness, risk management and safeguards, diversity, and body inclusion in design and offering, as well as the existence of parental control systems, are studied. In advertising and marketing, responsible advertising, diversity, body image, and anti-stereotype approaches are evaluated. In the work and family environment, flexibility at work, parental leave, and support for families are analyzed, in addition to mental health and psychological well-being policies.
To measure how many companies have measures related to the well-being of childhood and adolescence, the report uses the Emotional Well-Being Impact Prevention and Mitigation Index (IPMIBE). This indicator shows the percentage of companies that have at least one action that meets the established criteria and will serve in the future to track the evolution of their commitments.
Disparities among analyzed sectors
The study "Companies impact the emotional well-being of childhood and adolescence" reveals that the aesthetics sector has the lowest IPMIBE score, at 28 percent among the 12 firms evaluated. Espinosa has indicated that this data should "invite reflection," given that it is an area closely linked to the construction of self-esteem, especially in adolescence.
In this sector, the document states that 57 percent of companies have measures related to diversity and the elimination of stereotypes, while only 17 percent incorporate specific age-appropriate actions.
In leisure and entertainment, where five companies have been analyzed, the IPMIBE reaches 32 percent, with marked differences between dimensions. In products and services, it stands at 16.4 percent; in advertising and 'marketing', it reaches 40 percent, and in the work and family environment, it rises to 57.5 percent.
The fashion sector obtains an IPMIBE of 30 percent. The highest-rated dimension is the work and family environment, at 43 percent, followed by advertising and 'marketing', at 34 percent. The area of products and services remains at 19 percent.
In technology, the average IPMIBE stands at 32 percent, with 30 percent in both advertising and products and 46 percent in the work and family environment. It is noteworthy that 83 percent of the 12 companies studied offer parental controls, but only 17 percent consider age-appropriate measures.
Finally, the insurance sector, with three companies included in the sample, records an IPMIBE of 54 percent and concentrates the majority of its actions in the work and family environment, at 64 percent. According to the report, it is the area with the most indirect influence on children and adolescents of the five considered.
Integrate children's rights into business strategy
The CEO of Zurich Spain, Vicente Cancio, has emphasized that corporate decisions have a significant weight on the well-being of minors. In his view, companies can positively contribute to the mental health of youth through their brand, their positions, the messages they convey, or their way of producing, among other factors.
In this framework, the report outlines five lines of action for the private sector to incorporate the prevention of emotional distress in children and adolescents into its management. First, it proposes introducing prevention from the design phase of products and services, as well as in advertising and marketing strategies.
At the same time, it recommends communicating without generating new vulnerabilities, resorting in advertising, sponsorship, or other communication actions to positive, diverse, and authentic references.
The document also advocates for promoting work environments that favor care and self-care. "Parents who are workers in companies in these sectors are responsible for the care and well-being of their children, but for that, they need to be able to take care of themselves," María Ángeles Espinosa has reminded.
Fourth, the study urges integrating children's rights into the business strategy, so that the well-being of minors is incorporated into the questions a company asks itself before deciding and not only into the initiatives it later promotes to compensate for its impacts.
Finally, it emphasizes the need to give space to the voice of children and adolescents in defining corporate strategies that affect them, so that they can guide and actively participate alongside the other involved agents.