A experiência de vitimização por roubo em adultos jovens e sua relação com composição corporal, pressão arterial e transtornos mentais aos 30 anos

Abstract

Violence is a worldwide public health concern. In 2016 resulted in nearly 400 thousand homicides and is considered the main cause years of life lost due to premature mortality in men in Latin America. Beyond the social and economic impacts, violence can also result in short and long-term injury to mental health. The literature on the possible consequences of violence on physical health is scarce, but some studies suggest a possible relationship between obesity and cardiovascular diseases. Although robbery is one of the most important way of exposure to community violence, both in high and middle and low-income countries, the evidence on its relationship with mental disorders in young adults is limited and does not exist for physical health-related outcomes, such as obesity and hypertension. The aim of this thesis was to assess the experience of victimization due to robbery in young adults in Pelotas belonging to the 1982 birth cohort and to explore its relationship with body composition, blood pressure and mental disorders at 30 years old. The first paper evaluated the prevalence of mental disorders in adolescents, young people and adults and its relationship with sociodemographic characteristics in five birth cohorts (RPS): Ribeirão Preto (São Paulo), Pelotas (Rio Grande do Sul) and São Luís (Maranhão), Brazil, where not only was the high prevalence of the major depressive disorder, suicide risk, social phobia and generalized anxiety disorder as a public health problem, as well as in line which the variation of these disorders may depend on the gender, place of occurrence and the socioeconomic status. The second paper assessed the relationship between victimization due to robbery with the mental disorders at 30 years old and the main results of the study suggest the cumulative influence of victimization due to robbery on a major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. Finally, the third paper assessed the relationship between victimization due to robbery and body composition and blood pressure levels at 30 years old. In the adjusted analysis, we observed a negative association of robbery up to 30 years old with the percentage of fat-free mass and diastolic blood pressure, as well as the negative association of robbery in the last 10 years with the percentage of fat-free mass and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The main results of this thesis highlight the association between robbery and mental disorders, as well as draw attention to the need for further studies to explore the possible relationship between robbery and physical health. Therefore, given the high burden of problems related to mental health, obesity and cardiovascular diseases, especially in low-and middle-income countries, where community violence is increasingly challenging, measures aimed at preventing, reducing or mitigating consequences of exposure to community violence seem timely.