Int J Public Health. 2025 Aug 26;70:1607782. doi: 10.3389/ijph.2025.1607782. eCollection 2025.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To explore the relationship between forced displacement and variables associated with mental health in an indigenous Colombian pediatric population.
METHODS: A mixed methods design was applied with 69 children aged six to 16 years belonging to 45 families of the Embera Dobidá People: 25 displaced families and 20 non-displaced families. The qualitative phase involved focus groups, while the quantitative phase used a cross-sectional correlational design.
RESULTS: Quantitative findings revealed statistically significant correlations (p < 0.001) between displacement and multiple mental health indicators, particularly emotional and behavioral problems. Food insecurity showed a moderate but meaningful effect, highlighting the impact of nutritional vulnerability on the emotional wellbeing of displaced children and adolescents. In the qualitative phase distinct themes emerged in each community: A territory that cannot be returned to, in Caldas, and The angry and dying territory, in Chocó.
CONCLUSION: For Indigenous communities in Colombia, mental health is closely tied nutritional sufficiency and a meaningful relationship with ancestral territory. These elements are disrupted by forced displacement, contributing to elevated suicidal risk and emotional distress among children and adolescents.
PMID:40933397 | PMC:PMC12418784 | DOI:10.3389/ijph.2025.1607782
