Contextual processes that promote and attenuate mental illness associated with severe patient distress are a pervasive global issue. This presentation summarizes a research program that addresses this issue by proposing the Multidimensional-Multireference Social Comparison Model of Mental Health, which examines the social psychological processes underlying these outcomes. In Study 1 (N=210), Brazilian participants living in Brazil showed that individuals who merely compared themselves more with others reported lower self-esteem, which was associated with more severe depressive symptoms and predicted higher levels of suicidal ideation. In Study 2 (N=270), favorable social comparison was experimentally manipulated in a similar setting. The intervention successfully created a favorable comparison context, resulting in increased self-esteem, lower depressive symptoms, and less suicidal ideation among participants in the intervention group. Study 3 (N=306) examined Brazilian immigrants in Portugal, focusing on the role of multiple reference targets (i.e., to whom one compares oneself), comparison dimensions (e.g., SES, social value, emotional support, occupational skills, quality of life), and socially based levels of comparison (intrapersonal, interpersonal, intergroup). The results show that individuals actively construct their self-concept based on the outcomes of comparisons they make along the target status, dimensions, and reference level (the self, within-group, and between-group) of social comparison. Those who framed their self-worth based on more favorable comparisons showed higher self-esteem, fewer depressive symptoms, and less suicidal ideation. We discuss how health care providers may inadvertently trigger unfavorable comparisons in minority patients, potentially facilitating mental health problems. Conversely, we explore how social psychological interventions can train health care providers to facilitate favorable comparisons to promote minority patients' well-being. We conclude by highlighting both the potential and limitations of the social comparison framework to understand and address the complex interplay between context-based mental health problems, opening new avenues for culturally sensitive prevention and intervention strategies.