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Mental health of internally displaced preschool children: a cross-sectional study conducted in Bogotá, Colombia

Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology volume 48, pages 917–926 (2013)Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose

Ongoing armed conflicts, like the one in Colombia, have forcibly displaced millions of people including many young children. This study aimed to assess the mental health of internally displaced preschoolers in Bogotá Colombia and to identify correlates of mental health in these children.

Methods

Cross-sectional study conducted among 279 children attending four kindergartens in a deprived neighbourhood in Bogotá. Child mental health was assessed with the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) 1.5–5 years, a parent-report. Univariate analyses and multivariate logistic regressions were performed to assess the association between displacement and child mental health and to identify correlates of mental health in displaced children.

Results

Displaced children (n = 90) more often met borderline cut-off scores for the CBCL scales than non-displaced children (n = 189) (e.g. total problems 46.7 vs. 22.8 %; p < 0.001). The association between displacement and presence of CBCL total problems remained after adjustment for socio-demographic factors (Adjusted OR 3.3, 95 % CI 1.5; 6.9). Caretaker’s mental health partly explained the association. In displaced children, caretaker’s mental health (p < 0.01) and family functioning (p < 0.01) were independently associated with child mental health. Exposure to traumatic events and social support was also associated with child mental health; however, associations were not independent.

Conclusion

In this deprived neighbourhood in Bogotá, preschool children registered as internally displaced presented worse mental health than non-displaced peers. Family functioning and caretaker’s mental health were strongly and independently associated with displaced children’s mental health.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Aura Hernandez and Armando Steven Prieto from Universidad del Rosario, for helping with the study administration. Our appreciation also goes out to the team of students from Universidad del Rosario for helping with the data collection and the teaching staff for their collaboration. Lastly, we would like to thank Professor Frank Verhulst (Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands) for his suggestions on the manuscript and study design and Professor Thomas Achenbach (University of Vermont, BT, United States) for his suggestions on the administration of the CBCL/1.5–5 in Colombia. The Erasmus Mundus Program of the European Union provided the primary author with a grant to cover living and travel costs in Colombia. All costs related the design of the study, data collection, data management, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and manuscript review were covered by the Erasmus University Medical Centre and Universidad del Rosario.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Room Ae 029, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Ilse J. E. Flink, Tinneke M. J. Beirens & Hein Raat

  2. Department of Public Health, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, D.C, Colombia

    María H. Restrepo, Mónica M. Ortegon & Carolina L. Enriquez

  3. Interfaculty Doctorate Studies in Public Health, National University of Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia

    María H. Restrepo

  4. Department of Paediatrics, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, D.C, Colombia

    Diana P. Blanco

Authors
  1. Ilse J. E. Flink
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  2. María H. Restrepo
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  3. Diana P. Blanco
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  4. Mónica M. Ortegon
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  5. Carolina L. Enriquez
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  6. Tinneke M. J. Beirens
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  7. Hein Raat
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Correspondence to Ilse J. E. Flink.

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Flink, I.J.E., Restrepo, M.H., Blanco, D.P. et al. Mental health of internally displaced preschool children: a cross-sectional study conducted in Bogotá, Colombia. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 48, 917–926 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-012-0611-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-012-0611-9

Keywords

  • Child health
  • Mental health
  • Armed conflict
  • Inequalities
  • Violence
  • Poverty