Feasibility and Acceptability of "Cuida tu Ánimo" (Take Care of Your Mood): An Internet-Based Program for Prevention and Early Intervention of Adolescent Depression in Chile and Colombia.

The rapid internet penetration in Latin American countries has made it possible to implement digital mental health interventions. "Cuida tu Ánimo" (Take Care of Your Mood) is an internet-based program for the prevention and early intervention of depression in adolescents. A pilot study was conducted in Chile and Colombia to study the feasibility and acceptability of the program and estimate its effects. There were 199 participants (53.3% women; mean age = 14.8 years, SD = 1.0) recruited from two schools in Chile and two schools in Colombia. Qualitative and quantitative methods were applied for data collection and analyses. Although the levels of acceptance were moderate to high across all variables, adherence was lower than expected. The participants deemed important for an intervention of this type offered a higher level of interaction with team members through internet-based and face-to-face activities. Post-intervention outcomes show a reduction in depressive and anxious symptoms in adolescents in Chile, while there were no significant changes in the level of symptomatology in adolescents in Colombia. The women used the program more than the men. Results show the need to improve the intervention by increasing its levels of customization and developing strategies to achieve better adherence. The contradictory results of the program in Chile and Colombia suggest the importance of other variables beyond the content of the intervention, such as the setting or context of the intervention.

Pregnant again? Perspectives of adolescent and young mothers who and do not experience a repeat pregnancy in adolescence.

Introduction: Teen pregnancy remains a major social and public health issue in developing countries. Each additional child compromises the development of both the mother and children. Scarce studies have been performed in Latin America.Purpose: This study explores and analyzes individual and family factors associated with repeat pregnancies during adolescence to better elucidate the phenomenon.Methods: Qualitative-descriptive study. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted with mothers 20 years of age or younger from urban areas of Santiago, Chile. Participants were divided into Repeat Pregnancy (RP) and No Repeat Pregnancy (NRP) groups. Qualitative data analysis was based on elements of grounded theory.Results: The RP group generally related life stories reflecting greater psychosocial vulnerability. Most of the RP group dropped out of school after their first pregnancy to focus on parenting and had a passive attitude towards contraception. In contrast, members of the NRP group actively sought long-term contraceptive methods, motivated largely by the desire to continue their education to improve their living conditions and achieve greater personal fulfilment. They tended to have family support networks that facilitated school retention.Conclusion: Key differences between groups included use of contraception, focus on life projects, and motivation to finish school. Prevention strategies should promote long-term contraceptive methods, offer strategies to help young mothers continue their education, facilitate achievement of personal projects, and provide support for parenting.

Remote Collaborative Depression Care Program for Adolescents in Araucanía Region, Chile: Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Despite evidence on efficacious interventions, a great proportion of depressed adolescents do not receive evidence-based treatment and have no access to specialized mental health care. Remote collaborative depression care (RCDC) may help to reduce the gap between needs and specialized mental health services. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of an RCDC intervention for adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) living in the Araucanía Region, Chile. METHODS: A cluster randomized, assessor-blind trial was carried out at 16 primary care centers in the Araucanía Region, Chile. Before randomization, all participating primary care teams were trained in clinical guidelines for the treatment of adolescent depression. Adolescents (N=143; 13-19 years) with MDD were recruited. The intervention group (RCDC, N=65) received a 3-month RCDC treatment that included continuous remote supervision by psychiatrists located in Santiago, Chile's capital city, through shared electronic health records (SEHR) and phone patient monitoring. The control group (enhanced usual care or EUC; N=78) received EUC by clinicians who were encouraged to follow clinical guidelines. Recruitment and response rates and the use of the SEHR system were registered; patient adherence and satisfaction with the treatment and clinician satisfaction with RCDC were assessed at 12-week follow-up; and depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) were evaluated at baseline and 12-weeks follow-up. RESULTS: More than 60.3% (143/237) of the original estimated sample size was recruited, and a response rate of 90.9% (130/143) was achieved at 12-week follow-up. A mean (SD) of 3.5 (4.0) messages per patient were written on the SEHR system by primary care teams. A third of the patients showed an optimal adherence to psychopharmacological treatment, and adolescents in the RCDC intervention group were more satisfied with psychological assistance than those in EUC group. Primary care clinicians were satisfied with the RCDC intervention, valuing its usefulness. There were no significant differences in depressive symptoms or HRQoL between groups. Satisfaction with psychological care, in both groups, was related to a significant change in depressive symptomatology at 12-weeks follow-up (beta=-4.3, 95% CI -7.2 to -1.3). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first trial of its kind in Latin America that includes adolescents from vulnerable backgrounds, with an intervention that proved to be feasible and well accepted by both patients and primary care clinicians. Design and implementation issues may explain similar effectiveness across arms. The effectiveness of the intervention seems to be comparable with an already nationwide established treatment program that proved to be highly efficacious under controlled conditions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01860443; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01860443 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6wafMKlTY).

[The legal framework to prevent teenage pregnancies]. / Conocimientos y práctica clínica de los proveedores de salud para la prevención del embarazo adolescente según marco legal chileno.

BACKGROUND: There are legal regulations about sexual and reproductive rights of adolescents. However, this legal framework (LF) may have contradictory elements: there are laws assuring confidentiality and access to contraception at any age but there are other laws that consider any sexual contact with an adolescent younger than 14 a sexual assault, whose report to the legal authorities in mandatory. AIM: To explore the knowledge and clinical practice of primary health care (PHC) providers regarding prevention of teenage pregnancy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Qualitative study collecting data using semi-structured interviews made to midwives and directors of PHC centers. Analysis of the data was based on Grounded Theory. RESULTS: There is a differentiated clinical care for pregnancy prevention among adolescents if they are over 14 years old. This is due to the LF, specifically to the sexual crime’s law (19,927) and the law about regulation of the fertility (20,418). The differences affect health care, access and counseling about contraception and confidentiality. Healthcare of teenagers under the age of 14 is perceived as problematic for providers, due to the possible legal implications. CONCLUSIONS: The LF causes insecurity on health care providers and derives in a differentiated clinical approach according to the patient´s age. This is a barrier to provide timely and confidential access to counseling and contraception.

Conocimientos y práctica clínica de los proveedores de salud para la prevención del embarazo adolescente según marco legal chileno / The legal framework to prevent teenage pregnancies

Background: There are legal regulations about sexual and reproductive rights of adolescents. However, this legal framework (LF) may have contradictory elements: there are laws assuring confidentiality and access to contraception at any age but there are other laws that consider any sexual contact with an adolescent younger than 14 a sexual assault, whose report to the legal authorities in mandatory. Aim: To explore the knowledge and clinical practice of primary health care (PHC) providers regarding prevention of teenage pregnancy. Material and Methods: Qualitative study collecting data using semi-structured interviews made to midwives and directors of PHC centers. Analysis of the data was based on Grounded Theory. Results: There is a differentiated clinical care for pregnancy prevention among adolescents if they are over 14 years old. This is due to the LF, specifically to the sexual crime’s law (19,927) and the law about regulation of the fertility (20,418). The differences affect health care, access and counseling about contraception and confidentiality. Healthcare of teenagers under the age of 14 is perceived as problematic for providers, due to the possible legal implications. Conclusions: The LF causes insecurity on health care providers and derives in a differentiated clinical approach according to the patient´s age. This is a barrier to provide timely and confidential access to counseling and contraception.