International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Jul 28, 2022
Background: South Africa (SA) has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment and youth who ar... more Background: South Africa (SA) has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment and youth who are not in employment, education or training (NEET), even higher among Black South Africans. SA’s NEET rates are 3 times those of UK; 5.4 times of Germany; 1.3 times of Brazil; and 2.5 times of Malaysia. Given that youths between 15 and 24 years of age make up 24% of the total population, these are significant challenges for the economy and further fuel the cyclical, pervasive and enduring nature of poverty. We hypothesised that rural youth who are NEET would have a greater prevalence of mental disorders and higher rates of substance use compared to their non-NEET counterparts. The objective of the study is to determine the differences in rates of psychological distress and substance use between NEET and non-NEET rural African 14- to 24-year-old young men. Methods: The study took place in a remote and rural district municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We divided the district’s five sub-municipalities into two clusters (large and small) and randomly selected one from each cluster for inclusion in the study. We further randomly selected wards from each sub-municipality and then rural settlements from each ward, for inclusion in the study. We recruited young men as part of a larger study to explore sociocultural factors important in gender-based violence in rural SA. We compared 15- to 19-year old and 20- to 24-year old youth NEET and non-NEET on rates of psychological distress symptoms (depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, hopelessness and worthlessness) and substance misuse (including alcohol, cannabis, other recreational drugs) using a Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) statistics at p < .005 level of significance level. Results: About 23% of the 355 male participants were NEET. There were no statistically significant differences in psychological distress or substance use between youth NEET and non-NEET, controlling for age. Conclusion: The study highlights difficult transitions to post-secondary education and work for Black youth in rural SA where opportunities for employment are limited. Education, training and employment appear to offer limited benefit.
Poverty has a complex, and in some places direct, relationship with well-being, and physical and ... more Poverty has a complex, and in some places direct, relationship with well-being, and physical and mental health. The impact can be lasting, with consequences felt over several generations. Intertwined with social determinants of health and through multiple health inequalities, poverty can precipitate and perpetuate mental disorders, help-seeking, and prognosis. This is visible in the impact on childhood and households, as well as in the impact on the trajectory of mood disorders, psychosis, trauma, substance misuse, and personality disorders. Furthermore, the global and multidimensional consequences of poverty can manifest in both wealthy and low- and middle-income countries, as well as in the rural and urban divide. Against this backdrop, Sustainable Development Goals are geared towards the reduction of poverty across regions and nation states; however, catastrophic events such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic highlight how vulnerable these can be to disruption. By illustrating the bidirectional relationship between poverty and mental health, this chapter stresses the importance of poverty alleviation as a critical social, economic, and mental health policy priority in all nations.
A noticeable tendency in the first generation of scholarship on sexual orientation and gender ide... more A noticeable tendency in the first generation of scholarship on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression (SOGIE) in Africa has been the focus on urban or modern institutional settings. A dominant theme is to document people's struggles against stigma, fear and violence to better inform interventions to strengthen human rights and sexual health for all. In some cases, unintentionally, the impression conveyed of Africa is of a continent with cultures that are uniformly, hostile to SOGIE rights. The present study arises from a large survey among boys and men in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa that problematises that impression. The study revealed unexpectedly high levels of same-sex sexual experience among boys and men in a mostly rural, culturally conservative setting. Following from that revelation, we conducted in-depth interviews to gain insight into their lives. Informants did indeed recount many incidents of discrimination and violence and admitted to sometimes severe emotional health problems. Yet they also spoke of finding love, acceptance, allies, resources, humour and hope for the future. In this paper, we tease out key themes from the interviews in relation to trends in the scholarship.
Poverty has a complex, and in some places direct, relationship with well-being, and physical and ... more Poverty has a complex, and in some places direct, relationship with well-being, and physical and mental health. The impact can be lasting, with consequences felt over several generations. Intertwined with social determinants of health and through multiple health inequalities, poverty can precipitate and perpetuate mental disorders, help-seeking, and prognosis. This is visible in the impact on childhood and households, as well as in the impact on the trajectory of mood disorders, psychosis, trauma, substance misuse, and personality disorders. Furthermore, the global and multidimensional consequences of poverty can manifest in both wealthy and low- and middle-income countries, as well as in the rural and urban divide. Against this backdrop, Sustainable Development Goals are geared towards the reduction of poverty across regions and nation states; however, catastrophic events such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic highlight how vulnerable these can be to disruption. By illust...
Chair: Allison Goebel, Queen\u27s University Mark Hunter (mark.hunter@utoronto.ca) University of ... more Chair: Allison Goebel, Queen\u27s University Mark Hunter (mark.hunter@utoronto.ca) University of Toronto The rise of Xanax in Durban’s schools: Toward a framework for connecting drugs and education Nomusa Mngoma (mngoma@queensu.ca) Queen\u27s University “Cool,” “normal” and “progress” in the lives of LGBTQ people in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Iain Edwards I am Angel: rediscovering working class homosexuality in South Africa Meeting ID: 964 7785 210
Background: South Africa (SA) has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment and youth who ar... more Background: South Africa (SA) has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment and youth who are not in employment, education or training (NEET), even higher among Black South Africans. SA’s NEET rates are 3 times those of UK; 5.4 times of Germany; 1.3 times of Brazil; and 2.5 times of Malaysia. Given that youths between 15 and 24 years of age make up 24% of the total population, these are significant challenges for the economy and further fuel the cyclical, pervasive and enduring nature of poverty. We hypothesised that rural youth who are NEET would have a greater prevalence of mental disorders and higher rates of substance use compared to their non-NEET counterparts. The objective of the study is to determine the differences in rates of psychological distress and substance use between NEET and non-NEET rural African 14- to 24-year-old young men. Methods: The study took place in a remote and rural district municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We divided the district’s fiv...
Purpose: The current study investigated the pain profiles of patients with subacute non-specific ... more Purpose: The current study investigated the pain profiles of patients with subacute non-specific low back pain attending an outpatient return-to-work rehabilitation programme. Differences in symptoms of distress (depression and anxiety) and return to work between the pain-profile groups were assessed. Methods: Sixty-five volunteers who met the eligibility criteria and had complete follow-up data were included in the analysis. The mean age was 38.8 years (minimum 18, maximum 64); 38 (58.5%) were men. The median time since onset of low back pain was 30 days. Cluster analysis was used to categorize patients into groups according to pain severity scores (VAS). Results: Two distinct clusters—severe pain and moderate pain—emerged. There were significant differences in depressive and anxiety symptoms between the pain profiles. Further, return-to-work rates varied significantly between the two groups (31% in the severe pain cluster compared to 90% in the moderate pain cluster). Conclusion: ...
International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Jul 28, 2022
Background: South Africa (SA) has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment and youth who ar... more Background: South Africa (SA) has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment and youth who are not in employment, education or training (NEET), even higher among Black South Africans. SA’s NEET rates are 3 times those of UK; 5.4 times of Germany; 1.3 times of Brazil; and 2.5 times of Malaysia. Given that youths between 15 and 24 years of age make up 24% of the total population, these are significant challenges for the economy and further fuel the cyclical, pervasive and enduring nature of poverty. We hypothesised that rural youth who are NEET would have a greater prevalence of mental disorders and higher rates of substance use compared to their non-NEET counterparts. The objective of the study is to determine the differences in rates of psychological distress and substance use between NEET and non-NEET rural African 14- to 24-year-old young men. Methods: The study took place in a remote and rural district municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We divided the district’s five sub-municipalities into two clusters (large and small) and randomly selected one from each cluster for inclusion in the study. We further randomly selected wards from each sub-municipality and then rural settlements from each ward, for inclusion in the study. We recruited young men as part of a larger study to explore sociocultural factors important in gender-based violence in rural SA. We compared 15- to 19-year old and 20- to 24-year old youth NEET and non-NEET on rates of psychological distress symptoms (depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, hopelessness and worthlessness) and substance misuse (including alcohol, cannabis, other recreational drugs) using a Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) statistics at p < .005 level of significance level. Results: About 23% of the 355 male participants were NEET. There were no statistically significant differences in psychological distress or substance use between youth NEET and non-NEET, controlling for age. Conclusion: The study highlights difficult transitions to post-secondary education and work for Black youth in rural SA where opportunities for employment are limited. Education, training and employment appear to offer limited benefit.
Poverty has a complex, and in some places direct, relationship with well-being, and physical and ... more Poverty has a complex, and in some places direct, relationship with well-being, and physical and mental health. The impact can be lasting, with consequences felt over several generations. Intertwined with social determinants of health and through multiple health inequalities, poverty can precipitate and perpetuate mental disorders, help-seeking, and prognosis. This is visible in the impact on childhood and households, as well as in the impact on the trajectory of mood disorders, psychosis, trauma, substance misuse, and personality disorders. Furthermore, the global and multidimensional consequences of poverty can manifest in both wealthy and low- and middle-income countries, as well as in the rural and urban divide. Against this backdrop, Sustainable Development Goals are geared towards the reduction of poverty across regions and nation states; however, catastrophic events such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic highlight how vulnerable these can be to disruption. By illustrating the bidirectional relationship between poverty and mental health, this chapter stresses the importance of poverty alleviation as a critical social, economic, and mental health policy priority in all nations.
A noticeable tendency in the first generation of scholarship on sexual orientation and gender ide... more A noticeable tendency in the first generation of scholarship on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression (SOGIE) in Africa has been the focus on urban or modern institutional settings. A dominant theme is to document people's struggles against stigma, fear and violence to better inform interventions to strengthen human rights and sexual health for all. In some cases, unintentionally, the impression conveyed of Africa is of a continent with cultures that are uniformly, hostile to SOGIE rights. The present study arises from a large survey among boys and men in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa that problematises that impression. The study revealed unexpectedly high levels of same-sex sexual experience among boys and men in a mostly rural, culturally conservative setting. Following from that revelation, we conducted in-depth interviews to gain insight into their lives. Informants did indeed recount many incidents of discrimination and violence and admitted to sometimes severe emotional health problems. Yet they also spoke of finding love, acceptance, allies, resources, humour and hope for the future. In this paper, we tease out key themes from the interviews in relation to trends in the scholarship.
Poverty has a complex, and in some places direct, relationship with well-being, and physical and ... more Poverty has a complex, and in some places direct, relationship with well-being, and physical and mental health. The impact can be lasting, with consequences felt over several generations. Intertwined with social determinants of health and through multiple health inequalities, poverty can precipitate and perpetuate mental disorders, help-seeking, and prognosis. This is visible in the impact on childhood and households, as well as in the impact on the trajectory of mood disorders, psychosis, trauma, substance misuse, and personality disorders. Furthermore, the global and multidimensional consequences of poverty can manifest in both wealthy and low- and middle-income countries, as well as in the rural and urban divide. Against this backdrop, Sustainable Development Goals are geared towards the reduction of poverty across regions and nation states; however, catastrophic events such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic highlight how vulnerable these can be to disruption. By illust...
Chair: Allison Goebel, Queen\u27s University Mark Hunter (mark.hunter@utoronto.ca) University of ... more Chair: Allison Goebel, Queen\u27s University Mark Hunter (mark.hunter@utoronto.ca) University of Toronto The rise of Xanax in Durban’s schools: Toward a framework for connecting drugs and education Nomusa Mngoma (mngoma@queensu.ca) Queen\u27s University “Cool,” “normal” and “progress” in the lives of LGBTQ people in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Iain Edwards I am Angel: rediscovering working class homosexuality in South Africa Meeting ID: 964 7785 210
Background: South Africa (SA) has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment and youth who ar... more Background: South Africa (SA) has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment and youth who are not in employment, education or training (NEET), even higher among Black South Africans. SA’s NEET rates are 3 times those of UK; 5.4 times of Germany; 1.3 times of Brazil; and 2.5 times of Malaysia. Given that youths between 15 and 24 years of age make up 24% of the total population, these are significant challenges for the economy and further fuel the cyclical, pervasive and enduring nature of poverty. We hypothesised that rural youth who are NEET would have a greater prevalence of mental disorders and higher rates of substance use compared to their non-NEET counterparts. The objective of the study is to determine the differences in rates of psychological distress and substance use between NEET and non-NEET rural African 14- to 24-year-old young men. Methods: The study took place in a remote and rural district municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We divided the district’s fiv...
Purpose: The current study investigated the pain profiles of patients with subacute non-specific ... more Purpose: The current study investigated the pain profiles of patients with subacute non-specific low back pain attending an outpatient return-to-work rehabilitation programme. Differences in symptoms of distress (depression and anxiety) and return to work between the pain-profile groups were assessed. Methods: Sixty-five volunteers who met the eligibility criteria and had complete follow-up data were included in the analysis. The mean age was 38.8 years (minimum 18, maximum 64); 38 (58.5%) were men. The median time since onset of low back pain was 30 days. Cluster analysis was used to categorize patients into groups according to pain severity scores (VAS). Results: Two distinct clusters—severe pain and moderate pain—emerged. There were significant differences in depressive and anxiety symptoms between the pain profiles. Further, return-to-work rates varied significantly between the two groups (31% in the severe pain cluster compared to 90% in the moderate pain cluster). Conclusion: ...
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