Community, family, peer, and personal factors associated with adolescent mental health in Nicaraguan post-crisis context.

Parental monitoring was negatively associated with both PTSD and depression in cross-sectional analyses.

• Sample consisted of 4631 adolescents ages 10-17, 49% female, completing self-report surveys in schools in Nicaragua.
• Path models controlled for age, sex, region, and intervention effects.
• Parental monitoring was among the parental factors identified as protective against both mental health outcomes.
• Data were drawn from a drug and violence prevention program.

Parental relationship satisfaction and family expressiveness were negatively associated with PTSD and depression cross-sectionally.

• Both variables were classified as parental/family factors within the primary socialization theory framework.
• These associations were found in cross-sectional path models controlling for age, sex, region, and intervention effects.
• The study used self-report surveys administered in schools.
• Sample size was 4631 adolescents.

Friend support was negatively associated with PTSD and depression in cross-sectional analyses.

• Friend support was identified as a peer-level protective factor.
• This association held after controlling for age, sex, region, and intervention effects in path models.
• The finding is consistent with the primary socialization theory hypothesis that peer factors significantly impact youth mental health.
• Sample included 4631 adolescents ages 10-17.

Adolescent alcohol use and externalizing behaviors were positively associated with PTSD and depression cross-sectionally.

• These were classified as personal-level risk factors in the path models.
• Associations were found after controlling for age, sex, region, and intervention effects.
• Both PTSD and depression were outcome variables in the same path model.
• The study drew on cross-sectional data from Nicaraguan adolescents ages 10-17.

Engagement in prosocial behaviors with peers was positively associated with PTSD and depression in cross-sectional analyses.

• This finding was counterintuitive relative to the hypothesized protective role of prosocial peer engagement.
• Prosocial peer behaviors were classified as a peer-level factor.
• The association was found in cross-sectional path models controlling for age, sex, region, and intervention effects.
• Sample was 4631 Nicaraguan adolescents in a post-crisis context.

Exposure to community violence was positively associated with both PTSD and depression cross-sectionally.

• Community violence exposure was identified as a community-level risk factor within the primary socialization theory framework.
• The association was identified in path models controlling for age, sex, region, and intervention effects.
• The study was conducted in a Nicaraguan post-crisis context, making community violence a particularly salient variable.
• Authors highlighted protecting adolescents from community violence exposure as a practical implication for intervention.

Pre-crisis alcohol use longitudinally predicted post-crisis PTSD symptoms.

• This finding came from a longitudinal model using data spanning a crisis period in Nicaragua.
• Alcohol use was measured prior to the crisis and PTSD was assessed post-crisis.
• This was the primary longitudinal finding reported in the study.
• The study used both cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the same drug and violence prevention program sample.

The study used primary socialization theory as a framework to hypothesize that family, peer, and community factors significantly impact youth mental health outcomes.

• Primary socialization theory guided the selection of predictors at personal, family, peer, and community levels.
• Outcomes examined were depression and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSD).
• The sample comprised 4631 adolescents ages 10-17, 49% female, from Nicaragua.
• Both cross-sectional and longitudinal data were used, drawn from a drug and violence prevention program.