ArticleChild abuse & neglect2024
Parental absence as an adverse childhood experience among young adults in sub-Saharan Africa.
Article in Child abuse & neglect, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Emerging Perspectives on Adverse Childhood Experiences and Brain Cancer Immunotherapy.Cancers · 2026Article
- Adverse childhood experiences, positive childhood experiences, suicidal thoughts or behaviors and psychological distress among Kenyan youth-an exploratory analysis of the 2019 Kenya Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS).Child abuse & neglect · 2025Article
- Scaling up of parenting support to prevent violence against children in Tanzania: insights from policymakers and service providers.Implementation science communications · 2025Article
- Suicidal behaviours and self-harm among adolescents: Results from a school-based mental health survey in the Philippines.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2025Article
- Introduction to the child abuse and neglect special issue "epidemiology, risk factors, and impacts of adverse childhood experiences in low- and middle-income countries."Child abuse & neglect · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
17 authors at 8 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundParental absence in childhood has been associated with multiple negative consequences, such as depression and anxiety in young adulthood.
objectiveTo assess whether parental absence for six months or more in childhood is associated with poor mental health and substance use in young adulthood and whether parental absence accounts for additional variance beyond those explained by other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among youth in sub-Saharan Africa. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTINGS: We used combined Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) data from Cote d'Ivoire (2018), Lesotho (2018), Kenya (2019), Namibia (2019), and Mozambique (2019). Analyses were restricted to 18-24-year-olds (n
methodsWe used logistic regression to examine sex-stratified relationships between parental absence in childhood (defined as biological mother or father being away for six months or more before age 18) and mental health problems and substance use and whether parental absence explained additional variance beyond those explained by other ACEs.
resultsIn sub-Saharan Africa, parental absence in childhood was common (30.5 % in females and 25.1 % in males), significantly associated with poor mental health and substance use among females and males and accounted for additional variance beyond those explained by conventional ACEs. For example, after controlling for study covariates and other ACEs, females who experienced any parental absence had 1.52 (95 % CI = 1.02-2.26) higher odds of experiencing moderate/serious psychological distress compared with those who did not.
conclusionThe observed association between parental absence and poor mental health suggests that this experience has significant adverse consequences and merits consideration as an ACE.
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Registered trials
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