Human rights training in mental health professions is essential to reduce stigma and facilitate recovery processes. The aim of this study was to understand the relationship between engagement to human rights and stigma towards people with mental disorders, as well as attitudes towards mental illness in medical and social work students of a Latin American context. An analytical, cross-sectional study was carried out with a sample of 243 students in the last two years of study. Community Attitudes Towards the Mentally Ill (CAMI), Mental Illness Clinicians’ Attitude Scale (MICA), Human Rights Exposure in Social Work (HRXSW) and Human Rights Engagement in Social Work (HRESW) were used as instruments. To determine how the explanatory variables are related to the engagement to human rights (dependent variable) a binary logistic regression model was used. Correlations were found between the scales and their components. Economic condition, intersectional approach, authoritarianism, benevolence and mental health ideology explained 55.11% of the variance for commitment to the engagement of human rights. Some factors related to the stigma of mental disorders and the focus on human rights in future mental health professionals are highlighted that should be more visible in the training practices of these professions.

An association between extractivism, food insecurity, and mental health problems has been described in Indigenous peoples. The Brief Solastalgia Scale [BSS] has been proposed as a test to determine the negative emotional experience caused by environmental modification. The aim of the present study was to carry out the translation, cultural adaptation and validation of the brief solastalgia scale in two Colombian Indigenous communities with a history of extractivism. Also, to determine the association between spiritual disharmonies and solastalgia in these communities, and to describe the explanation of environmental suffering from the voice of some leaders of these communities. The model used in the validation of BSS was used, after a process of written and oral translation, and cultural adaptation to two Colombian Indigenous communities subjected to extractivism by coal mines [Pueblo Wayuú] and by mercury mines [Embera Dobidá], during 2023 and 2024. Bivariate correlations were also made between suicide risk, emotional problems and food insecurity. The results found an excellent model fit, as well as adequate internal consistency. Positive and statistically significant correlations were found between the variables. The current study helps to understand the relationship between well-being and extractivism, and also seeks to provide input to researchers, decision-makers and practitioners in communities affected by changes in their environments.

Background: This study investigates the complex inter-relations among mental health, food security and climate anxiety in the Emberá-Dobidá paediatric Indigenous community in Caldas, Colombia. Although the community was displaced due to armed conflict, our focus is on the subsequent environmental changes driven by climate change that have emerged as independent stressors in the new territory. These stressors have compounded the community’s vulnerabilities, with particular impacts on children and youth. By framing territory not merely as geographic space but as a sociocultural and symbolic construct, the study adopts a Latin American critical perspective to analyse health disparities. Methods: A mixed-methods study was conducted involving the paediatric population aged 6–16 years (n=40) from the Emberá-Dobidá Indigenous community, along with 65 caregivers representing 25 families. In-depth interviews explored community perceptions of environmental changes, food security and mental health. A cross-sectional correlational analysis used two culturally adapted instruments, the Pediatric Assessment of Community Emotional and Spiritual Health Scale and the Colombian Household Food Security Scale, to assess paediatric mental health and food security. Results: Qualitative findings revealed two key themes: ‘Increased Heat in Recent Years’ and ‘Disconnection from Water and Cultural Identity’. Quantitative results showed significant correlations between food insecurity, spiritual disharmony and mental health problems, including emotional distress and suicide risk. Notably, 30% of children were at risk of suicide, and 50% exhibited emotional problems. The findings demonstrate that environmental degradation and disrupted territorial ties are not only ecological but also psychological and cultural stressors. Conclusions: Mental health in Indigenous communities, understood as spiritual harmony, must be addressed through culturally grounded approaches that integrate traditional ecological knowledge, food security and the recovery of territorial connection. From a Latin American perspective, territory is not a passive backdrop but an active determinant of health shaped by power, memory and resistance. Our findings call for climate-resilient, community-driven interventions that reterritorialise public health responses in Indigenous settings.

Objetivo: Evaluar la relación entre los síntomas depresivos en cuidadores y la presencia de problemas afectivos y comportamentales en los niños, niñas y adolescentes. Sujetos y Método: Investigación de tipo descriptivo correlacional, de carácter transversal. Muestra: 1.100 niños y adolescentes con sus respectivos cuidadoras o cuidadores de colegios oficiales de Caldas-Colombia. Instrumentos: Child Behavior Check List (CBCL 4/18) y Patient Health Questionnarie (PHQ-9). Resultados: La media de edad fue de 12,1 años. Según CBCL, hasta el 20% de los niños, niña y adolescentes presentaban altera- ción en alguno de los síndromes para dificultades afectivo-comportamentales. El 34% de las madres y el 14% de los padres habían presentado alguna vez, durante al menos 2 semanas, tristeza, desánimo, depresión, pérdida del interés. Al aplicar el PHQ-9 el 32,4% de las cuidadoras y los cuidadores fueron clasificados con depresión. Las cuidadoras y los cuidadores con dichas alteraciones tienden a percibir mayor dificultad para afrontar su cotidianidad comparado con las cuidadoras y los cuidadores de niños, niñas y adolescentes sin riesgo (p < 0,003). Conclusiones: La presencia de síntomas depresivos en cuidadoras y cuidadores se relacionan con aumento de síntomas internalizantes y externalizantes en niños, niñas y adolescentes.