The occurrence of traumatic events, exposure to violence and characteristics of parental relationship are risk factors associated to mental health. This study aimed to identify individual, family and contextual factors associated to the manifestation of mental health problems in a sample of adolescent students from the metropolitan region of the city of Porto Alegr e, RS. The instruments used were the Stressful Adolescence Events Inventory, Screening of Exposure to Community Violence, Parental Style Inventory and the Child Behavior Checklist- YRF version. Two hundred and forty five adolescents, of which 114 (46,5%) male, mean age 16,02 (DP=1,83) participated in the study. Data analysis was done through descriptive and inferential statistics to estimate the determinants of clinical diagnostics. Violence situations, negative parenting practices and traumatic events were associated to clinical diagnosis. It is appointed the need to implement preventive actions and intervention geared to child and adolescent mental health.
Adolescence; Emotional disturbance; Family relations; Stressful events
