Emotional imagery across psychopathology: A translational perspective for youth mental health

Adolescence or youth, spanning ages 12-24, represents peak vulnerability for mental health problems but also offers cognitive plasticity and thus optimal opportunity for interventions. Meanwhile, the science of mental imagery is fuelling innovations in mental health, but mostly in adults. In this review, we aim to spotlight mental imagery in youth mental health, highlighting its potential for driving theoretical and therapeutic innovations. We synthesise the current evidence for imagery's role in understanding and addressing psychopathology, focussing on emerging youth data. Central to this review, we propose a novel framework in which mental imagery acts as a "developmentally sensitive amplifier" during adolescence, intensifying key cognitive-emotional processes that are salient at this developmental stage - particularly threat, reward, and self-processing - and thereby increasing their influence on the development of psychopathology. Therapeutic implications and translational considerations are discussed within a developmental and delivery context in youth. By integrating cognitive, clinical, and developmental sciences, imagery-based approaches could yield powerful interventions to tackle the global challenge of youth mental health.