Date Europe countries.

Children and adolescents are increasingly susceptible to issues related to anxiety and depression symptoms. The literature does not present a consensus on the composition of indicators that make predictions, prognostic algorithms, or management strategies in mental health promotion and prevention. Most studies primarily focus on the consequences observed in adulthood. This study develops a multidimensional representation of the propensity of children and adolescents to have difficulties in the field of anxiety and depression. The Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA) operator was used to create a composite indicator, and three quality tests validated the results. For this, it uses information about different dimensions associated with adversity in childhood and adolescence from 54 countries sourced from UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys to compare the values of proposed dimensions across continents. The generated composite indicator reveals that, on average, countries in Africa show a higher propensity for children and adolescents to present difficulties in the anxiety and depression fields. In the opposite position, the Americas have the lowest average propensity for these mental health conditions. The validation of the results through quality tests reinforces confidence in the direction indicated by the findings, enhancing the decision-making process when dealing with multidimensional phenomena.

儿童及青少年群体愈发易受焦虑、抑郁相关症状问题的困扰。现有学术研究尚未就心理健康促进与预防领域中用于预测、预后算法或管理策略的指标构成达成共识。多数现有研究主要聚焦于成年后观测到的相关后果。本研究构建了儿童及青少年在焦虑与抑郁领域出现困境的倾向性多维表征。研究采用有序加权平均（Ordered Weighted Averaging, OWA）算子构建综合指标，并通过三项质量检验对结果进行验证。为此，本研究使用来自54个国家、与儿童及青少年期逆境相关的多维度信息（数据来源于联合国儿童基金会（UNICEF）多指标类集调查（Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys）），以对比各大洲所提出维度的数值。所生成的综合指标显示，非洲国家的儿童及青少年在焦虑与抑郁领域出现困境的平均倾向性更高。与之相反，美洲地区的平均倾向性为所有区域中最低。通过质量检验验证结果，可增强研究结论指向的可信度，进而优化应对多维复杂现象的决策流程。