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Después del accidente, el chico se ha vuelto reservado y desconfiado.

Después del accidente, el chico se ha vuelto reservado y desconfiado.
After the accident, the boy has become reserved and distrustful.
From Lesson 221:Deep character changes (volverse)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Después del accidente, el chico se ha vuelto reservado y desconfiado.

Why use se ha vuelto here instead of another verb of change like se ha puesto?
In Spanish, volverse is used for deep, lasting changes in someone's personality or character. Because the boy became reserved and distrustful in a permanent way after the accident, volverse is the right choice. If it were a sudden, temporary mood, like getting sad or nervous, you would use ponerse.
Could I use se ha hecho instead of se ha vuelto for this personality change?
It wouldn't sound right here. While both mean to become and describe lasting changes, hacerse is generally used for changes that involve personal effort, ideology, or profession (like becoming a doctor or becoming vegan). volverse is the natural choice for involuntary psychological or personality changes.
Why is the present perfect (se ha vuelto) used here instead of the preterite (se volvió)?
In Spain, the present perfect is frequently used to connect a past event directly to the present. Using se ha vuelto emphasizes that the boy's personality changed in the past and he is still reserved and distrustful right now.
I know the infinitive is volverse, but why is the word vuelto used here?
vuelto is the irregular past participle of the verb volver. When you form perfect tenses with the helping verb haber (like ha vuelto), you must use this irregular form instead of the standard -ido ending you might expect from an -er verb.
Just a quick refresher: why is it del accidente and not de el accidente?
Whenever the preposition de is followed directly by the masculine singular article el, they must be merged to form the contraction del. It is a mandatory spelling and pronunciation rule in Spanish.

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