IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v22y2025i10p1471-d1757198.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Understanding Family Functioning as a Protective Factor for Adolescents’ Mental Health from the Parental Perspective: Photovoice in Rural Communities of Ecuador

Author

Listed:
  • Venus Medina-Maldonado

    (Centro de Investigación para la Salud en América Latina (CISeAL), Faculty of Health and Wellness, Nursing School, Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, Nayón 170530, Ecuador)

  • Majo Carrasco-Tenezaca

    (Centro de Investigación para la Salud en América Latina (CISeAL), Faculty of Habitat, Infrastructure and Creativity, Architecture School, Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, Nayón 170530, Ecuador)

  • Molly Frey

    (Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-HCOM), Ohio University, Dublin, OH 43016, USA)

  • Esteban Baus-Carrera

    (Centro de Investigación para la Salud en América Latina (CISeAL), Observatorio de Comunicación (OdeCom), Faculty of Health and Wellness, Medicine School, Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, Nayón 170530, Ecuador)

Abstract

Families in rural communities face a constellation of challenges that significantly hinder their ability to support adolescents. Our study aimed to explore family functioning as a protective factor for adolescent mental health from the perspective of parents in rural communities of southern Ecuador, using Photovoice as a participatory research tool. The research design corresponds to Participatory Action Research. Five Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted. A total of 29 parents of adolescents participated in the study. The research team employed qualitative content analysis for the interpretation phase. Through photographs and focus groups, parents commented on aspects of family life that they perceived as necessary for supporting adolescents, such as effective communication, cohesion, supervision, and expressions of care. The main conclusion indicated that the implementation of Photovoice converted participants from subjects to collaborators, allowing them to critically reflect on their behaviors while aiding or reinforcing in the co-creation of strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Venus Medina-Maldonado & Majo Carrasco-Tenezaca & Molly Frey & Esteban Baus-Carrera, 2025. "Understanding Family Functioning as a Protective Factor for Adolescents’ Mental Health from the Parental Perspective: Photovoice in Rural Communities of Ecuador," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 22(10), pages 1-15, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:10:p:1471-:d:1757198
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/10/1471/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/10/1471/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Victoria M. O’Keefe & Jillian Fish & Tara L. Maudrie & Amanda M. Hunter & Hariata G. Tai Rakena & Jessica Saniġaq Ullrich & Carrie Clifford & Allison Crawford & Teresa Brockie & Melissa Walls & Emily , 2022. "Centering Indigenous Knowledges and Worldviews: Applying the Indigenist Ecological Systems Model to Youth Mental Health and Wellness Research and Programs," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-15, May.
    2. Esteban Baus & Majo Carrasco-Tenezaca & Molly Frey & Venus Medina-Maldonado, 2023. "Risk Factors for the Mental Health of Adolescents from the Parental Perspective: Photo-Voice in Rural Communities of Ecuador," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-13, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chen, Fu & Zhang, Wanyue & Chen, Run & Jiang, Feifei & Ma, Jing & Zhu, Xinhua, 2024. "Adapting carbon neutrality: Tailoring advanced emission strategies for developing countries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 361(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:10:p:1471-:d:1757198. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.