Psychosocial determinants of solastalgia in children and young people of the Colombian indigenous community Embera Dobidá.

Background: Solastalgia is a factor in understanding the suffering of children and young people of Indigenous communities in Colombia, which, in addition to extractivism, face multiple crises as forced displacement, the recruitment of children and adolescents for war, food insecurity, and the weakening of cultural practices. Objective: To examine the association between psychosocial factors, as resilience, hopelessness, substance use, family problems, adverse childhood experiences and food insecurity, and solastalgia among two Colombian Indigenous Communities living in polycrisis contexts. It was hypothesized that hopelessness and food insecurity would be positively associated with solastalgia, while resilience would be negatively associated. Participants and setting: Participants (N = 142) comprised all children and young people between the ages of seven and 21 from two Indigenous communities (Embera Dobidá People). Both communities have experienced multiple crises, such as extractivism, migration, and armed conflict, and present high rates of suicidal behavior, food insecurity, and other health problems. Methods: A cross-sectional design was implemented, integrating the study within a broader public mental health intervention program. Participants completed validated instruments, including the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, the Brief Solastalgia Scale, CRAFFT (Car, Relax, Alone, Forget, Family/Friends, Trouble), PACES (Parenting, Behavior, Emotions and Suicidal Risk) and Food Security Scale. Multiple regression analyses were performed. Results: Solastalgia was significantly associated with hopelessness, resilience and food insecurity. The regression model explained 55.8 % of the variance in solastalgia scores. Hopelessness emerged as the strongest predictor (beta = .521, p < .001), followed by resilience, family problems, substance use and food insecurity. Conclusions: Among the factors related to solastalgia, proposed explanatory factors include hopelessness, problematic substance use, family problems, adverse childhood events, and structural factors such as displacement and food insecurity. The 99.3 % of participants without a formal reported diagnosis of mental health conditions highlights the limited access to mental health services in these rural areas.