Suicidal Thoughts, Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress, and Harmful Alcohol Use Associated with Intimate Partner Violence and Rape Exposures among Female Students in South Africa
While ample evidence from high-income country settings indicates the prevalence and risk factors for multiple mental ill-health symptoms in student populations, evidence from low- and middle-income higher education settings remains limited. We determined the frequency, associations, and structural p...
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Published in | International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 19; no. 13; p. 7913 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Switzerland
MDPI AG
28.06.2022
MDPI |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | While ample evidence from high-income country settings indicates the prevalence and risk factors for multiple mental ill-health symptoms in student populations, evidence from low- and middle-income higher education settings remains limited. We determined the frequency, associations, and structural pathways between mental health outcomes and possible risk factors among a sample of 1292 predominantly Black African and female students ages 18-30 years, enrolled at nine purposefully selected public universities and Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) campuses. We measured and created a mental ill-health latent outcome consisting of depressive symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicidal thoughts. We also measured traumatic exposures including childhood trauma, recent intimate partner violence (IPV), non-partner rape, and other life traumatic events. We used structural equation modelling to analyse data. We found that 50% of the surveyed students binge drank, 43% reported depressive symptoms, 9% reported PTSD symptoms, and 21% had suicidal thoughts. Students' experiences of childhood trauma, food insecurity, other traumatic events, non-partner rape, and IPV impacted the mental ill-health latent. IPV experiences mediated the relationships between experiences of childhood trauma or other trauma and the mental ill-health latent, and the relationship between binge drinking and other life traumatic events. Non-partner rape mediated the relationship between food insecurity and the mental ill-health latent. Binge drinking directly impacted non-partner rape experience. The findings substantiate the need for campus-based mental health promotion, psychosocial services and treatments, and implementation of combined interventions that address the intersections of violence against women and mental health among students in South Africa. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1660-4601 1661-7827 1660-4601 |
DOI: | 10.3390/ijerph19137913 |