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.

Do coping mechanisms moderate the effect of stressful life events on depression and anxiety in young people? A case-control study from Latin America.

Background: Stressful life events (SLEs) are associated with increased risk of depression or anxiety. Coping mechanisms may moderate this relationship but little is known on this topic in young people or in Latin America.

Aim: To investigate whether coping strategies predict odds of depression and/or anxiety and moderate the relationship between SLEs and depression and/or anxiety in young people in Peru, Lima and Bogotá.

Outcomes and experiences of music workshops for adolescents with depression and anxiety: An exploratory noncontrolled trial in Bogotá.

Objective: Adolescents frequently experience mental distress. However, there is little research on community activities that help adolescents recover from depression and anxiety. This study investigated the outcomes and experiences of music workshops for helping adolescents overcome anxiety and/or depression.

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.

Experience with the use of the DIALOG+ intervention in patients with severe mental illness in outpatient services in Colombia.

Introduction: Severe mental disorders can cause significant and lasting distress for patients and their families and generate high costs through the need for care and loss of productivity. This study tests DIALOG+, an app-based intervention to make routine patient-clinician meetings therapeutically effective. It combines a structured evaluation of patient satisfaction with a solution-focused approach.

Making cities mental health friendly for adolescents and young adults.

Urban life shapes the mental health of city dwellers, and although cities provide access to health, education and economic gain, urban environments are often detrimental to mental health. Increasing urbanization over the next three decades will be accompanied by a growing population of children and adolescents living in cities. Shaping the aspects of urban life that influence youth mental health could have an enormous impact on adolescent well-being and adult trajectories.

Leveraging a Digitized Mental Wellness (DIGImw) Program to Provide Mental Health Care for Internally Displaced People.

A local insurgency has displaced many people in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado. The authors' global team (comprising members from Brazil, Mozambique, South Africa, and the United States) has been scaling up mental health services across the neighboring province of Nampula, Mozambique, now host to >200,000 displaced people. The authors describe how mental health services can be expanded by leveraging digital technology and task-shifting (i.

Mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian settings: research priorities for 2021-30.

We describe an effort to develop a consensus-based research agenda for mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) interventions in humanitarian settings for 2021-30. By engaging a broad group of stakeholders, we generated research questions through a qualitative study (in Indonesia, Lebanon, and Uganda; n=101), consultations led by humanitarian agencies (n=259), and an expert panel (n=227; 51% female participants and 49% male participants; 84% of participants based in low-income and middle-income countries). The expert panel selected and rated a final list of 20 research questions.

Integrating Depression and Alcohol Use Care Into Primary Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Meta-Analysis.

Objective: Evaluation of the effectiveness of integration of depression and alcohol use disorder care into primary health care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is limited. The authors aimed to quantify the effectiveness of integrating mental health care into primary care by examining depression and alcohol use disorder outcomes. The study updates a previous systematic review summarizing research on care integration in LMICs.

Mental health and psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures among young adults in Bogotá, Colombia.

Unlabelled: We sought to explore mental health and psychosocial impact among young people (18 to 24 years old) in Bogotá during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We carried a cross sectional study using a web-based survey to assess mental health and personal impact among 18 to 24 years old living in Bogotá during the first 4 months of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The depressive symptoms were measured with PHQ-8 and anxiety symptoms with (GAD-7).

Role of the arts in the life and mental health of young people that participate in artistic organizations in Colombia: a qualitative study.

Background: Adolescents and young adults are vulnerable to developing mental distress. However, evidence suggests that more than half of the young people with symptoms of depression and anxiety overcome their distress within a year. However, there is little research on the exact resources that young people use and help them to recover.

Perceived access to general and mental healthcare in primary care in Colombia during COVID-19: A cross-sectional study.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact both in general and mental healthcare, challenged the health systems worldwide, and affected their capacity to deliver essential health services. We aimed to describe perceived changes in ease of access to general and mental healthcare among patients with a diagnosis of depression and/or unhealthy alcohol use in Colombia.

Methods: This study is embedded in the DIADA project, a multicenter implementation research study aimed at evaluating the integration of mental healthcare in primary care in Colombia.

Implementation of a multi-family intervention for children with behavioural and emotional problems in a semi-rural population.

Objective: To determine the feasibility of implementing a community-based, multi-family group intervention in a semi-rural population in Aranzazu, northern Caldas, Colombia.

Methods: Qualitative study. A convenience sample was taken of 10 families with children with affective and behavioural disorders, previously identified by the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL).

[Listening and Support Groups in a Teaching Hospital as a Model of Intervention for Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic].

Background: Healthcare workers facing the COVID-19 pandemic have experienced unexpectedly traumatic situations associated with concerns about the possibility of acquiring the infection, excessive workloads, and the increased inpatient mortality rates. The objective was to make changes in hospital practices that facilitate spaces for the well-being of healthcare worker teams.

Methods: We conducted an ongoing intervention during the first year of this outbreak.

Access barriers, self-recognition, and recognition of depression and unhealthy alcohol use: A qualitative study.

Introduction: Access to healthcare services involves a complex dynamic, where mental health conditions are especially disadvantaged, due to multiple factors related to the context and the involved stakeholders. However, a characterisation of this phenomenon has not been carried out in Colombia, and this motivates the present study.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to explore the causes that affect access to health services for depression and unhealthy alcohol use in Colombia, according to various stakeholders involved in the care process.

Global mental health and the DIADA project.

The DIADA project, understood as a mental healthcare implementation experience in the context of a middle-income country like Colombia, promotes a necessary discussion about its role in the global mental health framework. The following article outlines the main points by which this relationship occurs, understanding how the project contributes to global mental health and, at the same time, how global mental health nurtures the development of this project. It reflects on aspects like the systematic screening of patients with mental illness, the use of technology in health, the adoption of a collaborative model, the investigation on implementation, a collaborative learning and the Colombian healthcare system.

Relationship between the sociodemographic characteristics of participants in the DIADA project and the rate of compliance with follow-up assessments in the initial stage of the intervention.

Objective: Analyse the relationship between the sociodemographic profile of the DIADA study participants and the rate of compliance with the follow-up assessments in the early stage of this project's intervention for depression and unhealthy alcohol use offered within primary care.

Methods: A non-experimental quantitative analysis was conducted. The sociodemographic data of DIADA [Detección y Atención Integral de Depresión y Abuso de Alcohol en Atención Primaria (Detection and Integrated Care for Depression and Alcohol Use in Primary Care)] study participants had been previously collected.

Network of actors involved in the identification, care, and follow-up of unhealthy alcohol use in primary care in Colombia.

This article explores the structure of the network of actors involved in the care of individuals with unhealthy alcohol use (UAU) at the primary care level in five primary care centers in Colombia between 2017 and 2018. We use the Actor-Network Theory Framework (ANT) which posits that health outcomes are a product of a multitude of relationships between different stakeholders. The article focuses on the network configuration that develops between the actors and its effects on the processes of identification, care, and follow-up of people with UAU.

Characterizing the perceived stigma towards mental health in the early implementation of an integrated services model in primary care in Colombia. A qualitative analysis.

Background: Stigma is a sociocultural barrier to accessing mental health services and prevents individuals with mental health disorders from receiving mental health care. The Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Colombia acknowledges that a great number of people with mental disorders do not seek medical aid due to stigma.

Objectives: Characterise the perceived stigma towards mental health among the stakeholders involved in the early implementation of the DIADA project [Detección y Atención Integral de Depresión y Abuso de Alcohol en Atención Primaria (Detection and Integrated Care for Depression and Alcohol Use in Primary Care)].

Health-related quality of life and health literacy among adult primary care patients with subsidized or contributive health insurance in Colombia.

Context: Colombia passed Law 100 in 1993 with the goal of providing universal health care coverage, and by 2013, over 96% of the Colombian population had health insurance coverage. However, little is known about how health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and health literacy are related among those with the two most common types of health insurance coverage: subsidized (those with lower incomes) and contributory (those with higher incomes) coverage.

Objectives And Methods: In the current exploratory investigation, data from adults visiting six primary care clinics in Colombia were analysed to examine the relationship between HRQoL (assessed as problems with mobility, self-care, completing usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression), demographics, the two health insurance types, and health literacy.

The DIADA project: A technology-based model of care for depression and risky alcohol use in primary care centres in Colombia.

Introduction: People with mental health conditions frequently attend primary care centers, but these conditions are underdiagnosed and undertreated. The objective of this paper is to describe the model and the findings of the implementation of a technology-based model of care for depression and unhealthy alcohol use in primary care centers in Colombia.

Methods: Between February 2018 and March 2020, we implemented a technology-based model of care for depression and unhealthy alcohol use, following a modified stepped wedge methodology, in six urban and rural primary care centers in Colombia.