Mental health data available in representative surveys conducted in Latin America and the Caribbean countries: a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Mental health data from Latin America and the Caribbean countries (LACC) national and international surveys are essential for public health surveillance. This review aimed to identify and describe available mental health survey data in LACC, providing access details for researchers. METHODS: Our study was a scoping review. The search for available mental health survey data was conducted in PubMed and through grey literature searches, and the search dates were between 26 August 2021 and 15 October 2021. Included survey data were/had (1) nationally representative, (2) the latest version available from 2012 onward, (3) collected in at least one LACC and (4) at least one mental health variable or related factor. We accepted all written languages, including Spanish and English. RESULTS: A total of 56 national and 13 international surveys were included, with data available on 95 mental health variables classified into 10 categories. Most national surveys were performed in upper-middle-income countries. Variables categorised as 'Substance use' and 'Violence' were the most frequent. Mexico and Colombia had the highest production in both the national and international surveys. The main target population was the adult population. However, there are several mental health topics and LACC yet unsurveyed. CONCLUSION: We identified a total of 69 representative surveys from LACCs since 2012. We categorised the available data on mental health variables into 10 categories, and provided technical details to facilitate the future selection and use of these surveys.

Psychometric Adaptation of a Brief Scale of Child-to-Parent Violence and Intrafamily Violence in Peruvian Adolescents.

Family violence is a critical public health problem in Latin America. In Peru, family violence continues to be difficult to detect and prevent, with child-to-parent violence (CPV) arising as a key issue. This study aimed to do a psychometric adaptation of a brief scale of evaluation of CPV and intrafamily violence in a sample of Peruvian adolescents. Our study analyzed internal structure, internal consistency (with depression, family satisfaction, and anxiety), convergent validity, and measurement invariance. The study population included 570 adolescents living with both parents (50.2% women). Adequate goodness-of-fit indices were found for the full version of CPV and intrafamily violence of nine items (CFI = 0.991; RMSEA = 0.053) and the version with only CPV of six items (CFI = 0.995; RMSEA = 0.074). The latent correlations between CPV with depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms were greater than 0.40. Our study found that the full version of CPV and intrafamily violence (nine items) and the CPV-only version (six items) were invariant by sex. Reliability was adequate in all cases (ω > 0.70). The scale presents evidence of validity and reliability in Peruvian adolescents. It is suitable for epidemiological research on family violence.

Trends in the prevalence and treatment of depressive symptoms in Peru: a population-based study.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to estimate the trends in the prevalence and treatment of depressive symptoms using nationally representative surveys in Peru from 2014 to 2018. DESIGN: A secondary analysis was conducted using five nationally representative surveys carried out consecutively in the years between 2014 and 2018. SETTING: The study was conducted in Peru. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals, men and women, aged ≥15 years who participated in the selected surveys. Sampling was probabilistic using a two-stage approach. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Two versions of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) that focused on the presence of depressive symptoms were administered (one in the last 2 weeks and other in the last year). Scores ≥15 were used as the cut-off point in both versions of the PHQ-9 to define the presence of depressive symptoms. Also, the treatment rate was based on the proportion of individuals who had experienced depressive symptoms in the last year and who had self-reported having received specific treatment for these symptoms. The age-standardised prevalence was estimated. RESULTS: A total of 161 061 participants were included. There was no evidence of a change in age-standardised prevalence rates of depressive symptoms at the 2 weeks prior to the point of data collection (2.6% in 2014 to 2.3% in 2018), or in the last year (6.3% in 2014 to 6.2% in 2018). Furthermore, no change was found in the proportion of depressive cases treated in the last year (14.6% in 2014 to 14.4% in 2018). Rural areas and individuals with low-level of wealth had lower proportion of depressive cases treated. CONCLUSIONS: No changes in trends of rates of depressive symptoms or in the proportion of depressive cases treated were observed. This suggests the need to reduce the treatment gap considering social determinants associated with inequality in access to adequate therapy.

¿Temor de compartir los datos?: La necesidad de una ciencia más abierta / Fear of sharing the data?: The need for a more open science

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