Understanding the relationship between gender and mental health in adolescence: the Gender Adherence Index (GAI).

Half of all mental health disorders appear during adolescence, although it is still far from clear how they relate to gender (not sex) criteria. This study aims both to analyse the relationship between gender and adolescent mental health and to propose an index: the Gender Adherence Index (GAI). We used cross-sectional, secondary data from 3888 adolescents (aged 13-19) from the FRESC Health Survey on Adolescence in Barcelona. We analysed the interaction among sex, age and socio-economic status with several mental health indices. Additionally, we computed a Gender Adherence Index (GAI) to transcend the information-poor binary sex label, and thus assess to what extent mental health can be predicted by the gender expression of adolescents irrespective of their biological sex. We found that older age and lower economic status have a greater impact on the emotional distress of girls, who reported lower self-perceived mental health than boys. Nevertheless, girls obtained higher scores regarding their prosocial behaviour, which is protective against mental health problems. The GAI was retained in all statistical models stressing it as a relevant metric to explain the variability of adolescent emotional distress. Young people who showed adherence to normative femininity in their lifestyles showed higher prosocial behaviour but did not tend to present more emotional distress. Despite its limitations, this is a novel attempt to explore the relationship between gender expression and mental health. Better defined indices of gender adherence could help us to improve our predictive capacity of mental health disorders during adolescence.

Unraveling Reactionary Care: The Experience of Mother-Caregivers of Adults with Severe Mental Disorders in Catalonia.

In most Mediterranean countries, people diagnosed with severe mental disorders (SMDs) are typically cared for by the mother, causing a significant burden on people in this family role. Based on a broader mental health participatory action and qualitative research carried out in Catalonia (Spain) of 12 in-depth interviews and 3 focus groups, this article analyses the mother-caregivers' experience in the domestic space. The results show that patients and caregivers are engaged in a relationship of "nested dependencies", which create social isolation. This produces the conditions of "reactionary care", practices that limit the autonomy of those affected and that reproduce forms of disciplinary psychiatric institutions. We conclude that both institutional violence derived from economic rationality and that which stems from the gender mandate feed off each other into the domestic sphere. This research argues for placing care at the center of clinical practice and shows the need to consider the structural forces shaping it.

The woman who chose the terreiro. Lay care and medical landscapes in mental health care in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazilian mental health care reform understands mental health as a complex social process. There is a large literature production within the country focused on deinstitutionalization policy, social determinants of mental health and human rights, however, with little recognition beyond Latin American borders. In addition, cultural dimensions of mental suffering have been neglected in Brazilian debates which limits an expanded understanding of health care and users' inclusion. This paper aims to discuss the role of cultural determinants in mental health care in Brazil. We followed a patient in the city of Rio de Janeiro who opted for therapy based on her religious beliefs-using ayahuasca in the context of the Afro Brazilian religion of Umbanda-over the treatment-as-usual in mental health. We draw on the notions of autoatención (self, domestic, and group-care in lay contexts) and medical landscapes to examine how therapeutic negotiations reflect embodied cultural traits and both social and political determinants shaping therapeutic spaces. We argue that recognizing sociocultural differences and therapeutic negotiations are key elements in making a more inclusive health practice. Moreover, this recognition enables identifying and reasoning the broader social processes framing health practices. This debate is relevant to the Brazilian mental health context and to other scenarios, especially those where local and global knowledge and practices in mental health are entangled.

Neuronarratives of Affliction: Antidepressants, Neuropolitics and the "Entrepreneur of Oneself".

The dramatic increase in the consumption of antidepressants is one indicator, among others, of the contemporary cerebralization of human affliction. This process has been led by expert systems, creating new biosocialities or neurosocialities, and new models of self as well: the neural self. While some research minimizes the neuro-colonization of the self and its impact on lay knowledge systems, here I argue that synergy between neuropolitics and figures characteristic of neoliberal governamentality such as the "entrepreneur of oneself" can give rise to an interiorized, cerebralized, centripetal, inwardly-oriented self. This paper, based on long-term fieldwork among consumers of antidepressants in Catalonia, analyses the emergence of neuronarratives of affliction (NoAs). NoAs privilege neurochemical dysfunction as the source of distress, shortcircuiting an awareness of the social sources of suffering while at the same time obscuring the fact of this concealment. NoAs transform the self into structure and reduce the social world to event.

Inequality in breast cancer care in a Brazilian capital city: a comparative analysis of narratives.

INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer is the leading cause of death by cancer in women in Brazil. Timely access to treatment is a priority for health policy in the country. However, indicators of the disease are not equally distributed between women. Poverty and low levels of schooling associate with late diagnosis, worse prognosis and lower survival. OBJECTIVE: To investigate differences between women from different socio-demographic profiles in the breast cancer care trajectory in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. METHOD: This is a hermeneutic study through narrative analysis. The selection of the participants was based on data from hospital records of four public and private oncology services in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, according to the following variables: age, levels of schooling, and treatment cost source (Proxy of income): In-depth interviews were performed with 35 women characterized in three profiles: Profile 1 (n = 7), age range 51-69 years, schooling ≥15 years and private treatment cost; Profile 2 (n = 13), age range 35-58 years, schooling = 11 years and predominantly public treatment costing; Profile 3 (n = 15), age range 43-79 years, schooling ≤ 8 years and public treatment cost. RESULTS: The analysis of the narratives allowed the identification of three main themes (preventive care and first signs/symptoms; search for care and diagnosis of cancer; treatment and perceptions about care received) that highlighted differences between the trajectories, with prejudice to women with characteristics of greater vulnerability (Profile 3). CONCLUSION: Although in Brazil the attention to women with breast cancer is guided by principles of equality and equity of care, it is necessary to develop mechanisms to prevent discriminatory practices and that guarantee equality of access to diagnosis and treatment.

Non-professional-help-seeking among young people with depression: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Adolescents and young adults often suffer from depression, but tend to avoid seeking professional help. The aim of this study was to explore the reasons for non-professional-help-seeking in a sample of young adults resident in Catalonia with depressive symptoms through a qualitative study. In addition, the subjects were invited to offer their recommendations for making mental health care services more accessible. METHODS: We recruited 105 young persons (17-21 years of age) who had participated in a national survey on adolescents. The sample was divided into thirds, with 37 who had a previous diagnosis of depression, 33 who had self-perceived emotional distress, and 35 controls. The participants were interviewed in depth about their reasons for avoiding professional mental health care services, and the interview results were analyzed using both qualitative and cultural domain techniques and corroborated through comparison with the results of three focus groups. RESULTS: Participants' reasons for avoidance varied both by gender and according to prior experience with health services. Male study participants and female controls mainly understood depressive symptoms as normal and therefore not requiring treatment. Female participants with self-perceived distress were more likely to cite problems of access to treatment and fear of speaking to an unknown person about their problems. Females with a diagnosis expressed lack of trust in the benefits of treatment and fear of the social consequences of help-seeking. In their recommendations for best practices, the study participants suggested educational initiatives, as well as changes in the organization of mental health care services. CONCLUSIONS: A better understanding of the views of young people and a greater effort to involve them as active participants is important for facilitating help-seeking in this age group, and for adapting mental health care services to adolescent users and their social context.

[Smoking as a form of self-medication for depression or anxiety in young adults: results of a mixed-methods study]. / El consumo de tabaco como automedicación de depresión/ansiedad entre los jóvenes: resultados de un estudio con método mixto.

Tobacco use and mental health problems in the depression/anxiety spectrum often begin in adolescence as co-occurring phenomena. Epidemiologically, the relationship between them is bidirectional, but in the case of young people it appears to be explained best by the unidirectional self-medication hypothesis. The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between tobacco use, symptoms of depression or anxiety, and the perception of adolescents and young adults concerning tobacco use as a form of self-medication. A sample of 105 young people between the ages of 17 and 21 years was selected from a longitudinal sociological study to create three groups of participants: 1) subjects with a previous diagnosis of depression or anxiety; 2) subjects with self-perceived but undiagnosed distress compatible with depression or anxiety; 3) and a group of control. A mixed quantitative/qualitative questionnaire on substance consumption was administered, as well as the BDI-II depression scale, the GHQ anxiety and depression scales, and the MISS (Mannheim Interview on Social Support) scale. The final results show that the subjects experiencing symptoms of depression or anxiety in adolescence start smoking later than subjects in the control group, and those who smoke give self-medication as the main reason for doing so. The association between habitual tobacco use and BDI scores for depression was not statistically significant for the sample as a whole, only for the male participants (OR: 6,22, IC 95%, 1,06-36,21, p=.042). Anti-smoking campaigns targeting young people should take into consideration their use of tobacco as a form of self-medication for emotional distress.

Structural competency in global perspective.

This special issue aims to help fill two critical gaps in the growing literature as well as in practice. First, to bring together scholars and practitioners from around the world who develop, practice, review, and question structural competency with the aim of promoting a dialogue with related approaches, such as Latin American Social Medicine, Collective Health, and others, which have been key in diverse geographical and social settings. Second, to contribute to expanding structural competency beyond clinical medicine to include other health-related areas such as social work, global health, public health practice, epidemiological research, health policy, community organisation and beyond. This conceptual expansion is currently taking place in structural competency, and we hope that this volume will help to raise awareness and reinforce what is already happening. In sum, this collection of articles puts structural competency more rigorously and actively in conversation with different geographic, political, social, and professional contexts worldwide. We hope this conversation sparks further development in scholarly, political and community movements for social and health justice.

Biomedical psychiatry and its concealed metaphors: an anthropological perspective.

The idea that power relations structure social life is self-evident to most anthropologists. Western medical knowledge or biomedicine, and by extension science or scientific knowledge, however, has until relatively recently been exempt from anthropological scrutiny in political terms. An understanding of biomedicine as a system of knowledge that is not a copy of facts but a representation of them has entailed a break with the traditional separation of folk knowledge and scientific knowledge in anthropology, making it possible to include biomedicine in the repertoire of ethnographic objects. The peculiarity of biomedicine as a cultural system, seen from this perspective, lies in a paradox: its self-characterization as a set of non-ideological discourses and practices is a representation that conceals its ideological and power-saturated nature. Through an analysis of DSM-IV-TR, this article explores some of the representational strategies through which this concealment takes place in biomedical psychiatry: the asocial and universal character of mental illness categories; the neutrality of clinical practice; and the non-moral nature of clinical criteria and judgment. These are concealed metaphors in the true sense, for not only do they speak of something without naming it but they also deny their own existence as metaphors.

Structural competency in epidemiological research: What's feasible, what's tricky, and the benefits of a 'structural turn'.

Structural competency is an emerging paradigm for both the training of health professionals and the creation of a common language addressing structural processes that determine health disparities. However, its application to the field of epidemiological design and research is absent. Based on our previous proposal of a tool for Structural and Intercultural Competency in Epidemiological Studies, the SICES guidelines, in this article we analyse the possibilities and challenges of a 'structural turn' in epidemiology. In terms of possibilities, we recognise the value of paradigms from multiple parts of the world, such as social and sociocultural epidemiology, critical epidemiology and collective health, in facilitating a structural turn in epidemiological studies. In this framework, structural competency would provide a new angle by focusing not only on what to research (e.g. inequalities), but with what skills and attitudes (e.g. cultural and epistemic humility). The challenges lie in the inclusion of reflexivity and a comprehensive view in the context of a positivist epidemiology oriented towards obtaining evidence from a biomedical, but not social, perspective.

How Did People with Functional Disability Experience the First COVID-19 Lockdown? A Thematic Analysis of YouTube Comments.

People with functional disability endure barriers to health and other services and to full participation in social life. In the context of COVID-19, this discrimination has been intensified worldwide. We examine how the experience of COVID-19 lockdown was depicted in comments to a video about functional disability and COVID published on VICE's YouTube channel. We analysed the first 100 comments on the video, which was posted in spring 2020, during the first COVID-19 lockdown (roughly from March to June 2020, with some variations around the world). We identified four themes: lack of access to care and services, isolation and lifestyle changes, mental health consequences, and peer support. Legal regulations regarding COVID-19 and people with functional disability have not been sufficient in most countries. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed inadequate care systems, even in Western countries with advanced social protection policies.

Contextual and family factors associated with negative assessment of children's health.

BACKGROUND: The health and well-being of children are intimately linked to their families' physical, emotional and social circumstances. Evaluation of children's health has most often been based on parental responses. This work investigates whether proxy health, family context and household factors are associated with child's poor health reported by parental figures. METHODS: Data of 32,688 children of three age-strata (0-5; 6-11; 12-17 years) were obtained from a representative survey in Brazil in 2003. The analyses used generalized estimation equations to examine the association between having a bad health evaluation and the following factors grouped as: children/adolescents characteristics, history of child's health care use, proxy characteristics and family and household factors. RESULTS: Over 60% of the questionnaires were answered by the child's mother, with no significant difference among age groups. The proportion of children who had their health rated as bad decreased with age and was greater among males in all age groups (9.7%; 7.5%; 6.7% vs. 6.8%; 6.6%; 6.3%). The final model shows that household income per capita is inversely related to child's bad health in all age groups. Additionally, parent/proxy bad self-rated health is strongly and directly associated with child's bad health and is not explained by measures of the child's health or by the proxy's lack of education or a family's low income. The number of medical visits by the child in past year is also inversely associated with bad health. CONCLUSION: Results reinforce the importance of the household context to child's health and the association between parental figures and child health.

Chagas, Risk and Health Seeking among Bolivian Women in Catalonia.

In this article, we explore relationships between risk and emotions among Bolivian women living with Chagas disease, and the implications of this for their diagnosis and treatment in Catalonia, Spain. Here, risk is a social phenomenon, while emotions are conceived as embedded in the sociocultural and relational world. Emotions play key risk-related roles as both a cause and consequence of Chagas disease, are the basis of health practices, and allow us to link risk to wider social inequalities. The way we conceive emotions is crucial both theorically and practically.

The Structural and Intercultural Competence for Epidemiological Studies (SICES) guidelines: a 22-item checklist.

Structural and intercultural competence approaches have been widely applied to fields such as medical training, healthcare practice, healthcare policies and health promotion. Nevertheless, their systematic implementation in epidemiological research is absent. Based on a scoping review and a qualitative analysis, in this article we propose a checklist to assess cultural and structural competence in epidemiological research: the Structural and Intercultural Competence for Epidemiological Studies guidelines. These guidelines are organised as a checklist of 22 items and consider four dimensions of competence (awareness and reflexivity, cultural and structural validation, cultural and structural sensitivity, and cultural and structural representativeness), which are applied to the different stages of epidemiological research: (1) research team building and research questions; (2) study design, participant recruitment, data collection and data analysis; and (3) dissemination. These are the first guidelines addressing structural and cultural competence in epidemiological inquiry.

The collaborative management of antipsychotic medication and its obstacles: A qualitative study.

Antipsychotic medication is the primary treatment for psychotic conditions such as schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders; nevertheless, its administration is not free from conflicts. Despite taking their medication regularly, 25-50% of patients report no benefits or perceive this type of treatment as an imposition. Following in the footsteps of a previous initiative in Quebec (Canada), the Gestion Autonome de la Médication en Santé Mentale (GAM), this article ethnographically analyses the main obstacles to the collaborative management of antipsychotics in Catalonia (Spain) as a previous step for the implementation of this initiative in the Catalan mental healthcare network. We conducted in-depth interviews with patients (38), family caregivers (18) and mental health professionals (19), as well as ten focus groups, in two public mental health services, and patients' and caregivers' associations. Data were collected between February and December 2018. We detected three main obstacles to collaboration among participants. First, different understanding of the patient's distress, either as deriving from the symptoms of the disorder (professionals) or the adverse effects of the medication (patients). Second, differences in the definition of (un)awareness of the disorder. Whereas professionals associated disorder awareness with treatment compliance, caregivers understood it as synonymous with self-care, and among patients "awareness of suffering" emerged as a comprehensive category of a set of discomforts (i.e., symptoms, adverse effects of medication, previous admissions, stigma). Third, discordant expectations regarding clinical communication that can be condensed in the differences in meaning between the Spanish words "trato" and "tratamiento", where the first denotes having a pleasant manner and agreement, and the second handling and management. We conclude that these three obstacles pave the way for coercive practices and promote patients' de-subjectivation, named here as the "total patient" effect. This study is the first GAM initiative in Europe.

Representations and care practices of professionals regarding indigenous use of alcohol. / Representações e práticas de cuidado dos profissionais da saúde indígena em relação ao uso de álcool.

Indigenous people's health in Brazil is organized by the indigenous health subsystem, structured according to that of SUS, and described in the National Policy for Health Care of Indigenous Peoples. Alcohol consumption has been regarded as a health issue among indigenous peoples. In this paper, we describe the representations attributed by health professionals concerning alcohol use among indigenous peoples, and how these influence care practices. This is a descriptive ethnographic study based on interviews and participant observation. Analysis and interpretation were made with the support of Software Atlas TI 8.0. Excessive consumption occurs in specific contexts, and professionals view alcohol use as a problem. Drinking patterns vary with ethnicity, religion, and location, thus resulting in the need to develop cultural competencies that support implementation of effective actions and that also allow for collective construction, as stipulated in the policies. A network of supporters is described, among which are indigenous leaders, traditional healers, and the Evangelical Church. The study shows the difficulties of both carrying out policies and implementing actions which correspond to the indigenous peoples' expectations, recognizing the cultural and social rationale related to alcohol use.

Meanings of the use of medicinal plants in self-care practices. / Significados da utilização de plantas medicinais nas práticas de autoatenção à saúde.

OBJECTIVE: Understand the meanings people attribute to the use of plants in self-care practices during situations of ailment. METHOD: Qualitative, exploratory-descriptive research with ethnographic orientation, based on health anthropology with informants selected from a relations network. The sampling was done by semi-structured interviews and participant observations, from April 2015 to February 2017. RESULTS: Seventeen informants participated. The thematic axis emerged in the content analysis: meanings attributed by the informants to the use of medicinal plants. Feelings of love and happiness were unveiled, meanings of helping others, cure practices, family care through plants, comfort, the sense of welfare, among others. CONCLUSION: The importance of the nursing professional in establishing a therapeutic alliance with the subjects and social groups, aiming at the promotion of health and care completeness.

Salud mental colectiva: una revisión del concepto en la literatura académica de Brasil, Colombia y España / Collective mental health: a review of the concept in the academic literature of Brazil, Colombia, and Spain

Resumen La noción de salud mental colectiva hace referencia a una propuesta alternativa a la perspectiva biomédica y conductual que ha ido adquiriendo centralidad en las publicaciones académicas de Brasil, España y Colombia, especialmente en las dos últimas décadas. Con el fin de comprender el sentido que adquiere dicha noción, se realizó un análisis del concepto desde una revisión narrativa que empleó criterios intencionados para la selección del material. Se identificaron matices particulares en cada país y/o sus problemáticas asociadas, en estrecha conexión con las particularidades históricas y socioculturales de cada escenario. Las violencias relacionadas con las lógicas manicomiales (Brasil, España) y aquellas derivadas del conflicto armado y la violencia política (Colombia) son las problemáticas en las que la salud mental colectiva aporta orientaciones epistemológicas y modelos de prácticas para el acompañamiento en contextos de sufrimiento social. El deslinde entre lo colectivo y lo comunitario es el principal reto conceptual que emerge de la intersección entre la salud mental y la salud colectiva.

Abstract INTRODUCTION: The notion of collective mental health refers to an alternative proposal to the biomedical and behavioral perspective that has been gaining centrality in academic publications in Brazil, Spain, and Colombia, especially in the last two decades. METHOD: In order to understand the meaning acquired by this notion, an analysis of the concept was carried out through a narrative review that used intentional criteria for the selection of the material. RESULTS: nuances were identified in each country and/or its associated problems, in close connection with the historical and socio-cultural particularities of each scenario. Violence related to asylum logic (Brazil, Spain), and those derived from armed conflict and political violence (Colombia) are the problems where collective mental health provides epistemological and practical guidelines for accompaniment in contexts of social suffering. CONCLUSION: the delimitation between the collective and the community is the main conceptual challenge that emerges from the intersection between mental health and collective health.