Shinde Sachin, Perumal Nandita, Vandormael Alain, Tadesse Amare W, Mwanyika-Sando Mary, Baernighausen Till, Sharma Deepika, Fawzi Wafaie W
Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Center for Inquiry into Mental Health, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
Matern Child Nutr. 2023 Apr 4:e13492. doi: 10.1111/mcn.13492.
Mental health in adolescence is important for health and well-being throughout the life course, but evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa is sparse. This study aimed to assess the correlates of internalizing, externalizing and cumulative problems among early adolescents. This study used cross-sectional survey data from 3516 school-going adolescents in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We used a 25-item Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to measure internalizing, externalizing and cumulative problems. We carried out multi-variable linear regression analyses with the estimation of adjusted mean differences and 95% confidence intervals, to determine the factors associated with internalizing, externalizing and cumulative problems. Overall, 1 in 8 adolescents had internalizing problems, while 1 in 10 had externalizing problems. In two sites, having friends was related to lower internalizing problems, while repeating a grade, physical fights and household food insecurity were related to greater internalizing problems. Household food insecurity and involvement in physical fights were associated with greater externalizing problems across sites, while repeating a grade was linked with greater externalizing problems in two sites. Having a caring adult in school was associated with fewer externalizing problems across sites, while having friends was associated with fewer externalizing problems in two sites. Overall, having friends was related to fewer cumulative problems, while physical fights and household food insecurity were related to higher cumulative problems. School-based mental health and food programs may be useful in addressing social-emotional problems among school-aged adolescents in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Tanzania.
青少年心理健康对其一生的健康和幸福都很重要，但撒哈拉以南非洲地区的相关证据却很稀少。本研究旨在评估青少年早期内化问题、外化问题和累积问题的相关因素。本研究使用了来自布基纳法索瓦加杜古、埃塞俄比亚亚的斯亚贝巴和坦桑尼亚达累斯萨拉姆的3516名在校青少年的横断面调查数据。我们使用一份包含25个条目的长处与困难问卷来测量内化问题、外化问题和累积问题。我们进行了多变量线性回归分析，估计调整后的平均差异和95%置信区间，以确定与内化问题、外化问题和累积问题相关的因素。总体而言，八分之一的青少年有内化问题，而十分之一的青少年有外化问题。在两个地点，有朋友与较低的内化问题相关，而留级、肢体冲突和家庭粮食不安全与较高的内化问题相关。家庭粮食不安全和参与肢体冲突在各个地点都与较高的外化问题相关，而留级在两个地点与较高的外化问题相关。在学校有一位关心自己的成年人在各个地点都与较少的外化问题相关，而有朋友在两个地点与较少的外化问题相关。总体而言，有朋友与较少的累积问题相关，而肢体冲突和家庭粮食不安全与较高的累积问题相关。基于学校的心理健康和食品项目可能有助于解决布基纳法索、埃塞俄比亚和坦桑尼亚学龄青少年的社会情感问题。
