Early adversity and prosocial behavior in adolescents from Bogotá: a cross-sectional study

The association between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), prosocial behavior, and depression (like other negative mental health outcomes) has not been thoroughly understood. This study aimed at evaluating their simultaneous association while controlling for key confounding variables. A cross-sec...

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Published in:	Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 81 - 10
Main Authors:	Cardozo Alarcón, Andrés Camilo, Moreno Arenas, Nathaly, Verjel Ávila, Kharen Alessandra, Trujillo Maza, Elena María, Greniez Rodríguez, Charlotte, Vargas Riaño, Olga Lucía, Suárez Acevedo, Daniel Enrique
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England BioMed Central Ltd 08-07-2024 BioMed Central BMC
Subjects:	Adults Adverse childhood experiences Altruism Analysis Behavior Charter schools Child & adolescent mental health Child development Children Consent Cross-sectional studies Depression Depression, Mental Domestic violence Early adversity Education Guardians Health aspects High schools Mental depression Mental disorders Mental health Psychology, Pathological Psychopathology Questionnaires Regression analysis Secondary school students Secondary schools Social aspects Student Teenagers Well-being Youth Colombia Latin America Depression Early adversity Youth Well-being Student Mental health
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Summary:	The association between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), prosocial behavior, and depression (like other negative mental health outcomes) has not been thoroughly understood. This study aimed at evaluating their simultaneous association while controlling for key confounding variables. A cross-sectional study was carried-out with 2918 secondary school students from seven charter schools located in low-resourced neighborhoods in Bogota (Colombia), 54.12% were female, and mean age was 13.81 years. The self-report instrument included demographic variables, well-being, mental health, risk behaviors and symptoms of psychopathology. Assessment of ACEs was done by a series of yes/no questions, prosocial behavior was evaluated with the corresponding subscale in the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and depression was assessed with the Self-Reporting Questionnaire. Associations were tested using the Spearman correlation coefficient, Z tests and Chi-square tests, and all primary outcome analyses were adjusted for potential confounding variables through multivariate logistic regression using depression as outcome. Mean exposure to ACEs was 3.15 events; those exposed to four or more obtained lower scores in well-being, satisfaction with life and family functioning, and higher scores in symptoms of psychopathology. For the prosocial behavior scores, 64.35% were classified as close to the average, 17.51% as slightly lowered, 11.91% as low, and 6.23% as very low; participants with higher levels of prosocial behavior showed lower scores in symptoms of psychopathology. While ACEs had a positive association with depressive symptoms (Odds Ratio [OR] 2.21, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.67-2.94), prosocial behavior did not have a significant association with either ACEs or depressive symptoms in multivariate regression models. Novel studies should further elucidate the developmental pathways involving positive and negative mental health constructs to better understand the actual effectiveness of interventions that use these constructs in their design.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1753-2000 1753-2000
DOI:	10.1186/s13034-024-00768-2