ArticleSouth African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde2020
Pathways from witnessing community violence to mental health problems among South African adolescents.
Article in South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Community violence and internalizing mental health symptoms in adolescents: A systematic review.BMC psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Longitudinal associations between violence exposure and adolescent conduct problems in a high-adversity, South African setting.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026Article
- Early childhood and early adolescent predictors of internalising symptoms in adolescents: findings from a longitudinal study in a high-risk South African environment.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- The relationship between household economic shocks, depression, and elevated stress-responsive biomarkers among adolescent girls and young women in rural South Africa (HPTN 068).Journal of affective disorders · 2025Article
- Impact of exposure to community and school violence during adolescence in the African context: systematic review.BJPsych international · 2025Review
- Violence and Depression Among Adolescent Boys in Soweto, South Africa, 2020‒2023.American journal of public health · 2025Article
- Relationship Between Criminal and Status Offense Behaviors, Substance Use, and HIV Risk Among Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Cape Town, South Africa.International journal of mental health and addiction · 2024Article
- Community violence in neighborhoods and common mental disorders among Brazilian adolescents.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Understanding the Mechanisms through Which Family Risk Affects Adolescent Mental Health: A Model of Multisystemic Resilience in Context.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Association between schizoid tendencies and aggressive behaviors: mediating and moderating influences in childhood trauma and life events among Chinese adolescents.Annals of general psychiatry · 2021Article
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11 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundThe intersection of violence exposure and mental health problems is a public health crisis for South African (SA) adolescents. Understanding the impact of community violence on adolescent mental health can inform future interventions.
objectivesTo assess pathways between community violence exposure and internalising and externalising problems in SA adolescents receiving mental healthcare, and the roles of parent and peer relationships in these associations.
methodsParticipants (N=120 parent-adolescent pairs) were recruited from four mental health clinics in Western Cape Province to participate in a pilot test of a family-based HIV prevention study. Adolescents reported on their exposure to community violence, parental attachment, peer support of risk behaviour, and mental health. Parents reported on adolescents' internalising and externalising mental health problems. Participants received transport money (ZAR30 = USD3) and a shopping voucher or cash (ZAR50 = USD5) for their time.
resultsAdolescents were 12 - 18 years old (mean (standard deviation) 14.39 (1.82) years), 53% were male, and 67% and 33% reported black African and mixed-race ethnicity, respectively. Parents were 94% female and reported an average monthly income of ZAR3 973 (USD397). Boys reported significantly higher rates of witnessing community violence than girls. Among boys, significant paths emerged from community violence and low parent attachment to externalising symptoms and from community violence to peer support of risky behaviour. For girls, the only significant path was from low parent attachment to peer support of risky behaviour.
conclusionsThis cross-sectional study sheds new light on the possible pathways from witnessing community violence to mental health problems among SA adolescents. Identifying factors that drive and mitigate psychological distress in the context of persistent community violence is critical to SA's future and can inform the selection and delivery of appropriate and targeted evidence-based interventions.
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