Validation of a Measurement Model to Identify Socio-emotional Difficulties in Preschool Children: The Preschool Pediatric Symptom Checklist-Chilean Version.

Identifying issues in early childhood enables timely interventions, potentially mitigating future mental health risks. In this context, this study seeks to validate the model of Preschool Pediatric Symptom Checklist for detecting social and emotional challenges among Chilean preschoolers, as reported by their caregivers. In the first stage, 36 cognitive interviews using the published Spanish version of the PPSC were conducted with caregivers, parents and/or teachers of preschool aged children, so that they could review the questions and be sure that they understood them. In stage 2, 12 experts checked the questions for coherence and consistency. As a result, only one item was slightly modified. Then, 1009 preschool caregivers answered the preliminary version of the Chilean-adapted scale (PPSC-CL). Taking into account the minor changes incorporated in the scale, and using latent variable analysis techniques, it was possible to obtain evidence of validity for the four-factor structure of the PPSC-CL. Additionally, by using the questions about children's difficulties, a robust bifactor model was established, highlighting the presence of a general factor whose items have a specific component that sustain the existence of latent dimensions for internalizing, externalizing, and attentional problems. Thanks to this advancement, it will now be possible to identify and report the occurrence of global mental health challenges in preschool-aged children.

Gender-transformative school-based sexual health intervention: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: There is general agreement that sexuality is a central aspect of human development; it is key in sexual health and reproductive education during adolescence. However, in spite of the existing interventions on this topic and the evidence generated, the inclusion of a gender focus in sexuality is relatively recent and there is little evidence available, thus structured and corroborated interventions with a gender-transforming perspective in sexuality are required. METHODS: We will use a mixed method experimental design with a parallel cluster-randomized trial (GRTs) that will evaluate the effectiveness of a comprehensive gender-transformative intervention of sexual education (ENFOCATE -Focus-on-), which will be complemented with qualitative studies to understand the implementation process. The participants will be 609 10th and 11th-grade students. The randomization will be by grade, and the data will be collected at three moments (pre-intervention, post-intervention, and a 3-month follow-up). DISCUSSION: Comprehensive, gender-focused, and culturally pertinent interventions in sexuality are needed for adolescents of countries with high, middle, and low incomes. These produce better results in terms of sexual health, and including a gender-transformative focus contributes to equity in health. Focus-on is unique since it uses a comprehensive gender-transformative intervention in sexual education that will allow putting into practice a program based both on international evidence and that which arises from the object population. It also uses a culturally-sensitive focus, since it is designed based on the characteristics of the object population; it will allow adapting some activities to the needs of the context in which it is developed. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was prospectively registered on June 6, 2023, at ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05896540. Protocol version number 1.0. May 22, 2023.

Implementation of a national mental health intervention in educational communities: What do successful teams do differently?

This study aimed to identify the elements that characterize local teams which implement a nationwide preventive mental health intervention in schools and achieve better results. A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was conducted in two phases: (a) teams were characterized according to their level of achievement in the preventive intervention through latent class analysis; and (b) case studies of three teams with different implementation results were conducted by performing content analysis on interviews, observations, and documents. It was established that the more effective teams have better planning, the more they are familiar with the intervention, and more aware of their strengths and weaknesses. This team also implement culturally pertinent actions aimed at increasing knowledge about the intervention, which causes schools to experience it as part of their community, since they include the intervention in their regular dynamics. Lastly, the importance and relevance of these elements when working in educational communities is discussed.