Early life and infant mental health: Reshaping assumptions in a southern field

Abstract

Mental health is a priority area for global health, with a particular focus on well-being in majority of the world countries. Attention to early life demonstrates the significance of infant well-being for long-term health. International organisations such as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Bank guidelines shape interventions in the majority world. At the same time, there are severe shortages of trained mental health personnel on the African continent and growing concerns about the potentially skewed evidence base that informs the science of interventions. Scholars across a range of disciplines are calling for attention to more diverse evidence sources; for better understandings of the syndemic interactions that shape mental health and for interventions that take account of local ideals while retaining a strong evidence base. As questions of how best to secure infant well-being and the adequacy of knowledge surrounding it emerges with growing force on the global scene, it is critical that the full range of infants’ worlds are represented in scholarship. What do exposures to structural violence, interpersonal violence, social assault, and environmental insult mean for our understanding of ‘normal’ development both in our context and globally? What are the dangers of not accounting for these exposures? What evidence bases matter? How do we know? These are critical questions. They arise in the context of limited, under-resourced and often poorly supported opportunities for adequate screening, early recognition, and suitable interventions for both infants and caregivers in Africa.