Psychosocial adolescent psychosocial adjustment in Brazil – perception of parenting style, stressful events and violence

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the association between measures of exposure to violence, stressful events, family socialization practices, and demographic characteristics in a group of adolescents from a Southern region of Brazil. Three hundred adolescents were investigated in a case-control study. The results showed that adolescents with emotional and behavioral problems had significant higher stressful events, violence exposure, and negative parental practices, compared with controls. However, exposure to violence was the most deteriorating condition associated with the adolescents’ clinical internalization and externalization behaviors. Findings suggest the benefit of targeting actions geared to strengthen the quality of family interactions as well as to implement preventive programs to reduce community violence impact and to enhance support in the community.

Keywords

• Adolescence
• mental health
• violence
• family relations.