Mental health and psychosocial interventions integrating sexual and reproductive rights and health, and HIV care and prevention for adolescents and young people (10–24 years) in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic scoping review

Musindo, Otsetswe; Jafry, Sheharbano; Nyamiobo, Joseph; Becker, Kimberly D.; Gellatly, Resham; Maloy, Caitlin; Lozano-Ruiz, Alvaro; Romero-González, Borja; Kola, Lola; Merali, Zul; Chorpita, Bruce F.; Kumar, Manasi

doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.101835

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Mitigating the socioeconomic determinants that increase the risk for the above difficulties in adolescents and youth (as identified in the United Nations’ SGDs) could be achieved through integrated interventions. These interventions would work closely with families and communities in the promotion of effective and accessible basic provision including education and resources to empower the population in decision-making and targeting competencies such as developmet of self-efficacy to potentially bridge their psychological, economic, sexual and reproductive health-related gaps 11–18…”

Section: How Do We Address Their Unmet Needs and Compromised Mental S...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These interventions would work closely with families and communities in the promotion of effective and accessible basic provision including education and resources to empower the population in decision-making and targeting competencies such as developmet of self-efficacy to potentially bridge their psychological, economic, sexual and reproductive health-related gaps. 11–18 …”

Section: How Do We Address Their Unmet Needs and Compromised Mental S...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Leave no one behind: integrated sexual and reproductive, mental health and psychosocial programming for not in employment, education or training (NEET) adolescents and youth in sub-Saharan Africa

2023

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Section: How Do We Address Their Unmet Needs and Compromised Mental S...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: How Do We Address Their Unmet Needs and Compromised Mental S...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Leave no one behind: integrated sexual and reproductive, mental health and psychosocial programming for not in employment, education or training (NEET) adolescents and youth in sub-Saharan Africa

2023

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“…Despite this recommendation, there have been few studies in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) that evaluate the integration of mental health services into community-based health interventions. A systematic review carried out by Musindo et al, (2023) identifying whether and how interventions targeting adolescent SRHR and HIV in SSA include mental health components showed that out of 27 studies, mental health concerns were only addressed in two [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiences of integrating a psychological intervention into a youth-led empowerment program targeting out-of-school adolescents, in urban informal settlements in Kenya: A qualitative study

Kangwana,

Mutahi,

Kumar

2024

PLoS ONE

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Introduction Depression, anxiety and behavioural disorders are the leading causes of illness and disability in adolescents. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of integrating mental health services into a youth-led community-based intervention targeting out-of-school adolescents, residing in Kariobangi and Rhonda informal settlements in Kenya. Method Youth mentors were trained on the Bridging the Gaps (BTG) curriculum that integrated a modified version of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Problem Management Plus (PM+) psychological intervention into a sexual health, life-skills and financial education curriculum. Community lay mentors facilitated 72 weekly group sessions for 469 adolescent boys and girls, augmented with five enhanced one-on-one treatment sessions for those displaying signs of psychological distress. Adolescents displaying severe signs of psychological distress were referred directly to a primary health facility or connected to specialist services. A qualitative survey took place between February and March 2022, around four months before the end of the program. In-depth interviews were carried out with 44 adolescents, 7 partners, 19 parents and 11 stakeholders. Four focus group discussions were carried out with 17 mentors. Respondents were purposively selected to be interviewed based on their level of exposure to the intervention and ability to provide in-depth experiences. Themes focused on the program’s perceived effectiveness, ability to develop the capacity of lay mentors to address mental health issues, and increased access to mental health services. Results Adolescents reported that the intervention was able to improve their confidence in speaking up about their problems, equip them with essential first-aid skills to manage and treat anxiety or mild depression, provide them access to free one-on-one psychological help sessions, and increase their social network. Mentors were able to adhere to the core principles of psychological intervention delivery, providing preventative and treatment-focused psychosocial services. Furthermore, parents reported experiencing improved adolescent receptivity to parental suggestions or advice leading to improved parent-adolescent relationships. Mentors referred adolescents for a variety of reasons including severe mental illness, rape, and alcohol and substance use however, the high cost of transport was the main barrier limiting adolescents from following through with their referrals. Conclusion The findings demonstrate that integration of mental health services into community-based interventions is feasible and has benefits for adolescents, parents, and mentors.

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“…In recent times, more attention has been devoted to the health of adolescent girls, but it can be argued that young women (18-24 years) are also at a high risk of mental problems [9] [10]. While mental health research in this age group primarily focuses on pregnant young women, the data points to an alarming burden of depressive symptoms in this sub-group in SSA problems [9], [10]Further, research in this area has also shown that AGYW in this region remains highly susceptible to mental health problems compared to their male counterparts [11]- [13]If left unaddressed, these mental health concerns could present burdening health and socioeconomic consequences for AGYW [14], [15][16]. Findings estimate that the economic burden of mental disorders as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Southern Sub-Saharan Africa is 6% [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Various socioeconomic, ecological, biological, and interpersonal factors contribute to the burden of mental health problems in AGYW in SSA [14] [2][18] [19] [20]. Recent research has increasingly focused on interactions between multiple social determinants and interventions to address the causes of mental health challenges [21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Perestrelo,

Jumaa,

Sanyang

2023

Preprint

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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.

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Mental health and psychosocial interventions integrating sexual and reproductive rights and health, and HIV care and prevention for adolescents and young people (10–24 years) in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic scoping review

Cited by 4 publications

References 62 publications

Leave no one behind: integrated sexual and reproductive, mental health and psychosocial programming for not in employment, education or training (NEET) adolescents and youth in sub-Saharan Africa

Leave no one behind: integrated sexual and reproductive, mental health and psychosocial programming for not in employment, education or training (NEET) adolescents and youth in sub-Saharan Africa

Experiences of integrating a psychological intervention into a youth-led empowerment program targeting out-of-school adolescents, in urban informal settlements in Kenya: A qualitative study

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

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