Emotional Competences in Adolescents Exposed to Colombian Armed Conflict During Their Childhood

Objective: Analyse the mediation role of emotional competences on behavior problems in adolescents exposed to Armed-Conflict Childhood Adversities (ACCA). Method: Families with adolescent children who studied in three schools in the municipality of Soacha, Colombia, were invited to participate in the study. One hundred and sixty-one participants were selected and pooled into three groups according to their Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) scores: lower-ACE (LACE), higher-ACE (HACE), and ACCA using the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire for Adolescents (ACE-QA). The Emotion Recognition Task, the Empathy for Pain Task, and the Child Behavior Checklist assessed teenagers’ emotional functioning. Results: Teenagers exposed to ACCA more frequently experienced childhood adversities such as domestic violence, child abuse, and parental neglect. Moreover, these adolescents were less accurate in discriminating angry faces, reported higher control perception after social stressors, were more rigorous in punishing those who intentionally harmed others, and showed more internalizing behavior problems. In the mediational model, we found that: the control perception after social stress mediated the reduction of depressive symptoms in adolescents with ACCA history. Additionally, inaccuracy in perceiving angry faces and harsh punishment toward behaviors that intentionally harm others mediated the presence of thinking problems, anxiety, and rule-breaking behaviors. Conclusions: Colombian adolescents who experienced ACCA showed specific changes in their emotional competences, which mediate the parental report of behavioral problems. These results indicate the need for more focused interventions aimed at improving the emotional competences and mental health of adolescent victims of armed conflicts.