TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2022//
TI  - Suicidal thoughts, depression, post-traumatic stress, and harmful alcohol use associated with intimate partner violence and rape exposures among female students in South Africa
JO  - International journal of environmental research and public health
A1  - Machisa, Mercilene Tanyaradzwa
A1  - Chirwa, Esnat
A1  - Mahlangu, Pinky
A1  - Nunze, Ncediswa
A1  - Sikweyiya, Yandisa
A1  - Dartnall, Elizabeth
A1  - Pillay, Managa
A1  - Jewkes, Rachel
SP  - 7913
EP  - 7913
VL  - 19
IS  - 13
N2  - 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.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1661-7827
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19137913
ID  - ref1
ER  -