Intersections between COVID-19 and socio-economic mental health stressors in the lives of South African adolescent girls and young women

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorDuby, Zoe
dc.contributor.authorBunce, Brittany
dc.contributor.authorFowler, Chantal
dc.contributor.authorBergh, Kate
dc.contributor.authorJonas, Kim
dc.contributor.authorDietrich, Janan J
dc.contributor.authorGovindasamy, Darshini
dc.contributor.authorKuo, Caroline
dc.contributor.authorMathews, Catherine
dc.date.accessioned2022-04-13T09:38:53Z
dc.date.available2022-04-13T09:38:53Z
dc.date.issued2022-03-26
dc.date.updated2022-04-03T03:11:10Z
dc.description.abstractBackground In contexts where poverty and mental health stressors already interact to negatively impact the most vulnerable populations, COVID-19 is likely to have worsened these impacts. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in South Africa already faced intersecting mental health stressors and vulnerabilities. It is critical to understand how additional challenges brought on by COVID-19 have intersected with existing vulnerabilities and mental health risks AGYW faced, particularly given the intersections between psychological distress and increased risk behaviours that impact sexual and reproductive health. We aimed to examine socio-economic and mental health impacts of COVID-19 on South African AGYW in order to understand how additional challenges brought on by COVID-19 have intersected with existing challenges, compounding AGYW vulnerabilities. Methods Using qualitative and quantitative methods, framed by the syndemic theory, we examined the intersections between mental health and the COVID-19 epidemic amongst AGYW in six districts of South Africa characterised by high rates of HIV, teenage pregnancy and socio-economic hardship. Between November 2020 and March 2021 we conducted a cross-sectional telephone survey with 515 AGYW, and in-depth interviews with 50 AGYW, aged 15 to 24 years. Results Our findings reveal how COVID-19 restrictions led to increased experiences of stress and anxiety. Poor mental health was compounded by strained family relationships, increased fear of domestic violence, household unemployment, economic stress and food insecurity. Respondents described feelings of boredom, frustration, isolation, loneliness, fear and hopelessness. However, despite the multitude of challenges, some AGYW articulated emotional resilience, describing ways in which they coped and retained hope. Conclusion Various psycho-social risk factors already disproportionally affect the mental health of AGYW in these communities; the COVID-19 pandemic intersects with these pre-existing social and environmental factors. Understanding strategies AGYW have used to positively cope with the uncertainty of COVID-19 amongst an array of pre-existing mental health stressors, is key in informing efforts to respond to their needs. Multisectoral interventions are needed to address the drivers of poor mental health among AGYW, and bolster healthy coping mechanisms; interventions seeking to mitigate the mental health impacts on this vulnerable population need to be responsive to the unpredictable pandemic environment.en_US
dc.identifier.apacitationDuby, Z., Bunce, B., Fowler, C., Bergh, K., Jonas, K., Dietrich, J. J., ... Mathews, C. (2022). Intersections between COVID-19 and socio-economic mental health stressors in the lives of South African adolescent girls and young women. <i>Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health</i>, 16(1), 23. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36367en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationDuby, Zoe, Brittany Bunce, Chantal Fowler, Kate Bergh, Kim Jonas, Janan J Dietrich, Darshini Govindasamy, Caroline Kuo, and Catherine Mathews "Intersections between COVID-19 and socio-economic mental health stressors in the lives of South African adolescent girls and young women." <i>Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health</i> 16, 1. (2022): 23. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36367en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationDuby, Z., Bunce, B., Fowler, C., Bergh, K., Jonas, K., Dietrich, J.J., Govindasamy, D. & Kuo, C. et al. 2022. Intersections between COVID-19 and socio-economic mental health stressors in the lives of South African adolescent girls and young women. <i>Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health.</i> 16(1):23. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36367en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Duby, Zoe AU - Bunce, Brittany AU - Fowler, Chantal AU - Bergh, Kate AU - Jonas, Kim AU - Dietrich, Janan J AU - Govindasamy, Darshini AU - Kuo, Caroline AU - Mathews, Catherine AB - Background In contexts where poverty and mental health stressors already interact to negatively impact the most vulnerable populations, COVID-19 is likely to have worsened these impacts. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in South Africa already faced intersecting mental health stressors and vulnerabilities. It is critical to understand how additional challenges brought on by COVID-19 have intersected with existing vulnerabilities and mental health risks AGYW faced, particularly given the intersections between psychological distress and increased risk behaviours that impact sexual and reproductive health. We aimed to examine socio-economic and mental health impacts of COVID-19 on South African AGYW in order to understand how additional challenges brought on by COVID-19 have intersected with existing challenges, compounding AGYW vulnerabilities. Methods Using qualitative and quantitative methods, framed by the syndemic theory, we examined the intersections between mental health and the COVID-19 epidemic amongst AGYW in six districts of South Africa characterised by high rates of HIV, teenage pregnancy and socio-economic hardship. Between November 2020 and March 2021 we conducted a cross-sectional telephone survey with 515 AGYW, and in-depth interviews with 50 AGYW, aged 15 to 24 years. Results Our findings reveal how COVID-19 restrictions led to increased experiences of stress and anxiety. Poor mental health was compounded by strained family relationships, increased fear of domestic violence, household unemployment, economic stress and food insecurity. Respondents described feelings of boredom, frustration, isolation, loneliness, fear and hopelessness. However, despite the multitude of challenges, some AGYW articulated emotional resilience, describing ways in which they coped and retained hope. Conclusion Various psycho-social risk factors already disproportionally affect the mental health of AGYW in these communities; the COVID-19 pandemic intersects with these pre-existing social and environmental factors. Understanding strategies AGYW have used to positively cope with the uncertainty of COVID-19 amongst an array of pre-existing mental health stressors, is key in informing efforts to respond to their needs. Multisectoral interventions are needed to address the drivers of poor mental health among AGYW, and bolster healthy coping mechanisms; interventions seeking to mitigate the mental health impacts on this vulnerable population need to be responsive to the unpredictable pandemic environment. DA - 2022-03-26 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town IS - 1 J1 - Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health KW - COVID-19 KW - Lockdown KW - Adolescent girls and young women KW - Mental health KW - South Africa LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - 2022 T1 - Intersections between COVID-19 and socio-economic mental health stressors in the lives of South African adolescent girls and young women TI - Intersections between COVID-19 and socio-economic mental health stressors in the lives of South African adolescent girls and young women UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36367 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-022-00457-y
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/36367
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationDuby Z, Bunce B, Fowler C, Bergh K, Jonas K, Dietrich JJ, et al. Intersections between COVID-19 and socio-economic mental health stressors in the lives of South African adolescent girls and young women. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health. 2022;16(1):23. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36367.en_ZA
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.language.rfc3066en
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Public Health and Family Medicineen_US
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_US
dc.rights.holderThe Author(s)
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en_US
dc.sourceChild and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Healthen_US
dc.source.journalissue1en_US
dc.source.journalvolume16en_US
dc.source.pagination23en_US
dc.source.urihttps://capmh.biomedcentral.com/
dc.subjectCOVID-19en_US
dc.subjectLockdownen_US
dc.subjectAdolescent girls and young womenen_US
dc.subjectMental healthen_US
dc.subjectSouth Africaen_US
dc.titleIntersections between COVID-19 and socio-economic mental health stressors in the lives of South African adolescent girls and young womenen_US
dc.typeJournal Articleen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
13034_2022_Article_457.pdf
Size:
990.04 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
0 B
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Journal Articles