Growing up amidst violence: mapping mental health ecologies with young people on Colombia's Pacific Coast.

IF 3.1 2区 医学 Q2 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
Sanne Weber, Francy Carranza, Ana María Arango, Juan Roberto Rengifo, Mónica Pinilla-Roncancio, Sarah-Jane Fenton, Germán Casas, Paul Jackson, Juan Pablo Aranguren
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Experiencing violence and conflict during childhood and adolescence can significantly impact mental health, including affecting young people's social and economic development. We lack research in conflict-affected contexts that directly analyses the perceptions and experiences of young people themselves. We do not understand enough how conflict-affected environments damage the social tissue and connectedness of young people. We need a better understanding of the resources and agency that young people have to access support for their mental health and emotional wellbeing.

Methods: Based on participatory creative research methods, this article describes which resources young Afro-Colombian people living in the city of Quibdó make use of to improve and support their emotional wellbeing. Drawing on Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, we explore the social tissue of youth mental health.

Results: Participants mostly drew on sources of support in their immediate microsystem: family and friends; arts and sports in the neighbourhood; culture and nature; and individual coping strategies in the home. These microsystems bore signs of significant disruption as a result of conflict and violence, increasing individual and collective vulnerability. We identify a disconnect between these young people, their immediate environment (family, school, neighbourhood) and existing support mechanisms offered by the state and community organisations.

Conclusions: To promote mental wellbeing, we identify the significance of safe spaces where young people are able to talk and connect to others and where trusted persons can connect young people to the wider exosystem of mental health care provision and to social, economic, peacebuilding and wider political processes.

在暴力中成长:描绘哥伦比亚太平洋沿岸年轻人的心理健康生态。
背景:童年和青少年时期遭受暴力和冲突会严重影响心理健康,包括影响青年人的社会和经济发展。在受冲突影响的背景下,我们缺乏直接分析年轻人自己的看法和经历的研究。我们对受冲突影响的环境如何破坏年轻人的社会组织和联系了解不够。我们需要更好地了解年轻人获得心理健康和情感健康支持的资源和机构。方法:基于参与式创造性研究方法,本文描述了生活在Quibdó城市的年轻非洲裔哥伦比亚人利用哪些资源来改善和支持他们的情感健康。借鉴布朗芬布伦纳的生态系统理论,探讨青少年心理健康的社会组织。结果:参与者主要利用其直接微系统中的支持来源:家人和朋友;社区的艺术和体育活动;文化与自然;以及家庭中的个人应对策略。这些微系统有因冲突和暴力而受到严重破坏的迹象,增加了个人和集体的脆弱性。我们发现这些年轻人与他们的直接环境(家庭、学校、社区)以及国家和社区组织提供的现有支持机制之间存在脱节。结论:为了促进心理健康,我们确定了安全空间的重要性,在安全空间中,年轻人能够与他人交谈和联系,在安全空间中,受信任的人可以将年轻人与更广泛的心理卫生保健提供系统以及社会、经济、建设和平和更广泛的政治进程联系起来。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Conflict and Health
Conflict and Health Medicine-Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
CiteScore
6.10
自引率
5.60%
发文量
57
审稿时长
18 weeks
期刊介绍: Conflict and Health is a highly-accessed, open access journal providing a global platform to disseminate insightful and impactful studies documenting the public health impacts and responses related to armed conflict, humanitarian crises, and forced migration.
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