Association between psychosocial stressors with emotional and behavioral problems among children of low-income addicted families living in Brazil |
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| Institution: | 1. Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil;2. Institute of Psychiatry, King''s College London, United Kingdom;3. Institute of Psychiatry, Rawalpindi, Pakistan;4. Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;5. National Institute of Psychiatry Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Mexico DF, Mexico;6. University of Hong Kong, People''s Republic of China;7. University of Oviedo, CIBERSAM, Oviedo, Spain;8. University of Oviedo, CIBERSAM, Oviedo, Hospital Valle del Nalon, Langreo, Spain;9. National Institute of Psychiatry Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Mexico DF, Mexico;10. Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse,World Health Organization;11. Global Mental Health Program, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, Unit 9, Rom 5808, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032 USA |
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| Abstract: | BackgroundChildren exposed to substance use in their families are vulnerable to multiple risk factors in their development and at increased risk for emotional and behavioral problems. The aims of the study were as follows 1) estimate the prevalence of emotional and behavioral problems among children aged 6–11 years old, living with addicted family members in a low-income urban community of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil; 2) evaluate the children’s exposure to family psychosocial stressors and substance use; and 3) investigate the factors related to the increased risk of emotional and behavioral problems and substance use.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 101 children aged 6–11 years old (M = 9.16 years, SD = 1.61). The instruments used were a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Psychosocial Stress Factors (PSF).ResultsHigh prevalence of problems was found for this sample: the CBCL showed 26.7% of clinical scores for Internalizing Problems, 40.6% for Externalizing Problems, and 40.6% for Total Problems. Exposure to family psychosocial stressors was also high, including severe disease (33%), physical aggression (28.9%), death (27.8%), psychiatric hospitalization (16.7%), suicide attempts (15.5%), and suicide (9.3%). Exposure to these family stressors was associated with an increase of two to four times in the prevalence of internalizing and externalizing problems.ConclusionsChildren exposed to substance abusers have more mental health problems than general population, even when compared to peers living in similar low-income areas. This is a group that should be target of a selective preventive intervention. |
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| Keywords: | Children of substance abusing parents Child behavior check list Parental substance abuse Risk factors Emotional and behavioral problems Child psychiatry Low-income children families |
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