IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v146y2015icp292-299.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Children's exposure to community and war violence and mental health in four African countries

Author

Listed:
  • Foster, Holly
  • Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne

Abstract

In this article we review the mental health consequences of children's exposure to community and war violence (ETV) in four African countries: South Africa, Sierra Leone, Gambia and Rwanda. A focus on Africa is particularly pressing because of children's high levels of community and war ETV in countries therein. Regions of Africa present important macro-contexts for understanding children's various types of violence exposure amidst war and economic disadvantage. Findings of the review across 20 quantitative studies from 2004 to 2015 indicate consistent associations between exposure to war and community violence and children's symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and aggression. School climate and family support mitigate these ETV influences upon children: however, more research is needed on the buffering effects of such resources. The effects of war violence are mediated by perceived discrimination in communities post-conflict. We integrate findings across studies to synthesize knowledge on children's ETV in Africa around a model of its correlates, mediators, and moderators in relation to mental health. Emerging research points to avenues for prevention and future inquiry.

Suggested Citation

  • Foster, Holly & Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne, 2015. "Children's exposure to community and war violence and mental health in four African countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 292-299.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:146:y:2015:i:c:p:292-299
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.10.020
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953615301593
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.10.020?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cluver, Lucie & Orkin, Mark & Boyes, Mark E. & Sherr, Lorraine & Makasi, Daphne & Nikelo, Joy, 2013. "Pathways from parental AIDS to child psychological, educational and sexual risk: Developing an empirically-based interactive theoretical model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 185-193.
    2. Betancourt, Theresa S. & Agnew-Blais, Jessica & Gilman, Stephen E. & Williams, David R. & Ellis, B. Heidi, 2010. "Past horrors, present struggles: The role of stigma in the association between war experiences and psychosocial adjustment among former child soldiers in Sierra Leone," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 17-26, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cuartas, Jorge & Leventhal, Tama, 2020. "Exposure to community violence and Children's mental Health: A quasi-experimental examination," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    2. Anakwenze, Obianujunwa, 2022. "The cultural sensitivity continuum of mental health interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gavan, Luana & Hartog, Kim & Koppenol-Gonzalez, Gabriela V. & Gronholm, Petra C. & Feddes, Allard R. & Kohrt, Brandon A. & Jordans, Mark J.D. & Peters, Ruth M.H., 2022. "Assessing stigma in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review of scales used with children and adolescents," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    2. Janina Isabel Steinert & Lucie Dale Cluver & G. J. Melendez-Torres & Sebastian Vollmer, 2018. "One Size Fits All? The Validity of a Composite Poverty Index Across Urban and Rural Households in South Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(1), pages 51-72, February.
    3. Parul Bakhshi & Ganesh M. Babulal & Jean-Francois Trani, 2021. "Disability, Poverty, and Schooling in Post-civil War in Sierra Leone," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(3), pages 482-501, June.
    4. Haight, Wendy & Cho, Minhae & Soffer-Elnekave, Ruth & Nashandi, Ndilimeke J.C. & Suleiman, Johara, 2022. "Moral injury experienced by emerging adults with child welfare histories in developmental and sociocultural contexts: “I knew the system was broken.”," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    5. T.S. Betancourt & A. Ettien, 2010. "Transitional Justice and Youth Formerly Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups: Acceptance, marginalization and psychosocial adjustment," Papers inwopa614, Innocenti Working Papers.
    6. Trani, Jean-François & Cannings, Tim I., 2013. "Child Poverty in an Emergency and Conflict Context: A Multidimensional Profile and an Identification of the Poorest Children in Western Darfur," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 48-70.
    7. Skeen, Sarah & Tomlinson, Mark & Macedo, Ana & Miltz, Ada & Croome, Natasha & Sherr, Lorraine, 2014. "Child development in HIV-positive and HIV-affected children in South Africa and Malawi—What role for community organisations?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 90-97.
    8. Tay, Alvin Kuowei & Rees, Susan & Chan, Jack & Kareth, Moses & Silove, Derrick, 2015. "Examining the broader psychosocial effects of mass conflict on PTSD symptoms and functional impairment amongst West Papuan refugees resettled in Papua New Guinea (PNG)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 70-78.
    9. Perry, Elizabeth W. & Culbreth, Rachel & Swahn, Monica & Kasirye, Rogers & Self-Brown, Shannon, 2020. "Psychological distress among orphaned youth and youth reporting sexual exploitation in Kampala, Uganda," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    10. Michael L. Goodman & Beatrice J. Selwyn & Robert O. Morgan & Linda E. Lloyd & Moses Mwongera & Stanley Gitari & Philip H. Keiser, 2016. "Improved food quality, quantity and security among Kenyan orphans and vulnerable children: associations with participation in a multisectoral community-based program, age, gender, and sexual risk," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(2), pages 427-442, April.
    11. Trani, Jean-Francois & Ballard, Ellis & Peña, Juan B., 2016. "Stigma of persons with disabilities in Afghanistan: Examining the pathways from stereotyping to mental distress," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 258-265.
    12. Sachin De Stone & Franziska Meinck & Lorraine Sherr & Lucie Cluver & Jenny Doubt & Frederick Mark Orkin & Caroline Kuo & Amogh Sharma & Imca Hensels & Sarah Skeen & Alice Redfern & Mark Tomlinson & UN, 2016. "Factors Associated with Good and Harsh Parenting of Pre-Adolescents and Adolescents in Southern Africa," Papers inwopa870, Innocenti Working Papers.
    13. Marija Pantelic & Mark Boyes & Lucie Cluver & Mildred Thabeng, 2018. "‘They Say HIV is a Punishment from God or from Ancestors’: Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Assessment of an HIV Stigma Scale for South African Adolescents Living with HIV (ALHIV-SS)," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(1), pages 207-223, February.
    14. Unfried, Kerstin & Ibañez Diaz, Marcela & Restrepo-Plazaz, Lina Maria, 2022. "Discrimination in post-conflict settings: Experimental evidence from Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    15. Parul Bakhshi & Ganesh M. Babulal & Jean-Francois Trani, 0. "Disability, Poverty, and Schooling in Post-civil War in Sierra Leone," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 0, pages 1-20.
    16. Li, Xiaoming & Harrison, Sayward E. & Fairchild, Amanda J. & Chi, Peilian & Zhao, Junfeng & Zhao, Guoxiang, 2017. "A randomized controlled trial of a resilience-based intervention on psychosocial well-being of children affected by HIV/AIDS: Effects at 6- and 12-month follow-up," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 256-264.
    17. Bountress, Kaitlin E. & Gilmore, Amanda K. & Metzger, Isha W. & Aggen, Steven H. & Tomko, Rachel L. & Danielson, Carla Kmett & Williamson, Vernell & Vladmirov, Vladimir & Ruggiero, Kenneth & Amstadter, 2020. "Impact of disaster exposure severity: Cascading effects across parental distress, adolescent PTSD symptoms, as well as parent-child conflict and communication," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    18. Alyssa Banford Witting & Jessica Lambert & Thulitha Wickrama & Sivaguru Thanigaseelan & Michael Merten, 2016. "War and disaster in Sri Lanka: Depression, family adjustment and health among women heading households," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 62(5), pages 425-433, August.
    19. Havari, Enkelejda & Peracchi, Franco, 2017. "Growing up in wartime: Evidence from the era of two world wars," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 9-32.
    20. Barber, Brian K. & McNeely, Clea & Olsen, Joseph A. & Belli, Robert F. & Doty, Samuel Benjamin, 2016. "Long-term exposure to political violence: The particular injury of persistent humiliation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 154-166.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:146:y:2015:i:c:p:292-299. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.