Mental Distress Among Youths in Low-Income Urban Areas in South America.

Importance: Improving mental health of young people is a major societal challenge, particularly among the high numbers of young people living in deprived urban areas.

Objective: To identify factors associated with depression and anxiety among young people in deprived urban areas in South America.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This case-control study recruited adolescents (age 15-16 years) and young adults (age 20-24 years) from education and community settings in deprived areas in Bogotá, Colombia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Lima, Peru, between April 2021 and November 2022.

Psychometric properties of the patient health questionnaire-8 and general anxiety disorder-7 in adolescents and young adults from three Latin American cities: Internal structure, invariance, internal consistency and divergent validity.

Background: Depression and anxiety are the most common mental disorders in the world. Screening tools allow early diagnosis and intervention, preventing disease progression and reducing years lost to disability. Internationally, the most widely used screening instruments for depression and anxiety symptoms are the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) and the Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7).

Role of strategies used by young people for dealing with emotional distress: a qualitative study in deprived urban neighborhoods in Latin America.

Background: Many young people achieve recovery from mental health problems by using strategies to manage emotional distress and enhance well-being. Given that little is known about the functions of these strategies, especially in Latin American countries, this study aims to describe the usefulness of the resources used by youth from deprived urban neighborhoods in Bogotá (Colombia), Buenos Aires (Argentina), and Lima (Perú) in managing emotional distress.

Methods: 112 in-depth interviews about strategies for dealing with emotional distress and their perceived function were conducted with young people from three Latin American cities.

Association between stressful life events and depression, anxiety, and quality of life among urban adolescents and young adults in Latin America.

Background: Latin American youth have a high prevalence of mental health disorders and face major socioeconomic and public safety problems. This study assesses the association between stressful life events (SLEs) and depression, anxiety, and quality of life among adolescents and young adults from deprived neighbourhoods of Latin America.

Methods: The sample consisted of 2,402 participants, between adolescents (15-16 years) and young adults (20-24 years), from Bogotá (Colombia), Buenos Aires (Argentina), and Lima (Peru), assessed in 2021-2022 and recruited in education and community settings and social media.