A Review of Mental Health Burden and Social Determinants of Mental Health Among Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Background: Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) are an important sub-population in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where youth account for more than two-thirds of the region’s population. In comparison to their male counterparts, AGYW are at a higher risk of mental health burden. This review aims to review the peer-reviewed evidence on the mental health burden and social determinants of mental health amongst AGYW aged 10- 24 years in the sub-Saharan African context. Methods: Electronic databases including CINAHL, PubMed, Science Direct and Google Scholar were searched to identify peer-reviewed studies focusing on mental health in adolescent girls and young women in the identified context that have been published between 2015 and 2023 in English. Results and Discussion: A total of 39 studies were reviewed. The findings from the review show that the literature on mental health in AGYW identifies several biological, demographic, social, economic, neighbourhood and environmental factors affecting the burden of the issue. Within the context of environmental factors such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the more recent COVID-19 pandemic, social determinants of mental health that are unique to or disproportionately affect AGYW such as pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and violence present concerning associations to negative mental health outcomes in different rural and urban settings. Conclusions: The findings of the review shed light on the multifaceted nature of mental health issues and stresses the importance of a targeted approach in addressing mental health in adolescent girls and young women in the region. Recommendations include increased attention towards scaling up mental health research capacity and policy implementation and a focus on community-based interventions addressing factors unique to the target population in resource-poor settings.