Emotional contagion behavior in a group of young girls in a secondary school in Maputo, Mozambique.

Background: Emotional Contagion Behavior (ECB), the synchronized expression of emotional symptoms among members of a group, has been observed globally. In Mozambique, there have been numerous reports of ECB in recent years. Since 2010 several girls from a secondary school in Maputo City, Mozambique exhibited ECB which involved repeated fainting spells, sometimes including verbal aggression and threats to colleagues and teachers. We conducted a study to analyze sociodemographic and clinical characteristics associated with ECB.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 154 females aged from 16 to 24 years old. We considered emotional contagion behavior as repeated fainting spells, sometimes including verbal aggression and threats to others (colleagues and teachers). Participants responded to a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Beck Anxiety Scale, and the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-R). Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models analyzed sociodemographic and clinical characteristics associated with EBC.

Results: Among study participants, 57 presented ECB and 97 did not. The likelihood of ECB was higher among those with previous history of ECB (OR = 8.28, 95% CI [2.51, 27.30];  ⩽ .001) and extroverted personality profile (OR = 1.15, 95% CI [1.01, 1.30];  = .038). Having a romantic relationship was related to lower likelihood of having ECB (OR = 0.04, 95% CI [0.01, 0.19];  = .001).

Conclusions: These results suggest that ECB may repeat over time and be related to challenges pertaining to personality development, the presence of sexual life, and close relationships with peers faced by adolescent girls.