The mental health of youth and young adults during the transition to adulthood in Egypt

Abstract

BACKGROUND There has been growing interest in the stalled transition to adulthood in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and its consequences for young people’s socioeconomic outcomes. However, little is known about how important life transitions relate to youth psychosocial well-being in the region. OBJECTIVE Drawing on a life course framework, we estimate the associations between making transitions in education, employment, and marriage with changes in mental health among young people in Egypt. METHODS We descriptively analyze mental health scores, measured via the Self-Reporting Questionnaire-20 and disaggregated by gender, for a panel of young people first surveyed in 2009 at ages 13–29 and followed up in late 2013 and early 2014. We regress change in mental health scores against indicators of making different transitions. RESULTS Young women experience worse mental health than young men overall. Lower school achievement was associated with poorer mental health; being out of the labor force was an additional risk factor for young men. While average mental health scores improved over time, over a quarter of the sample experienced worsening mental health, related to failure to marry and find a job among older men, and failure to finish schooling among younger women. CONCLUSIONS Mental health is an important but often overlooked component of youth well-being during the transition to adulthood in MENA, and potentially other low- and middle-income countries. CONTRIBUTION This is the first paper to empirically examine the relationship between psychosocial well-being and achieving important socioeconomic milestones among a nationally representative cohort of young people in MENA.

Efektivitas Cognitive Behavior Therapy (Cbt) Untuk Meningkatkan Kualitas Tidur Penderita Gejala Insomnia Usia Dewasa Awal

“…Sejalan dengan penelitian Taylor et al (2011); Nurdin, Arsin dan Thaha (2018) juga menyatakan bahwa insomnia banyak dialami oleh individu pada masa produktif (18-30 tahun) karena pada kelompok usia ini kemampuan individu untuk pemecahan masalah semakin kompleks dan cukup beresiko terhadap peningkatan stress. Penurunan kualitas hidup dan insomnia pada usia produktif juga dapat dikaitkan dengan perasaan cemas, rasa sedih, tekanan, dan emosi negatif lainnya yang disebabkan oleh peristiwa di masa lalu, beratnya beban hidup, dan pola perilaku coping yang kurang tepat (Liu, Modrek & Sieverding, 2017).…”

Epidemiology of Mental Health Problems in the Middle East

“…There have been rapid demographic changes and epidemiological transitions in the region, with improvements in health status resulting in increased longevity and decreased childhood deaths. The EMR experiences a considerable burden of chronic diseases, including mental disorders (Charara et al 2017;Al-Hamzawi et al 2015;Liu 2017), and this is predicted to further increase due to ongoing unrest in the region (Charara et al 2017). Most countries in the region are prone to struggles, wars, and terrorism.…”

“…Studies from Egypt reported that young women had worse mental health status compared to men in the same age group (Liu 2017), and that women were nearly twice more vulnerable to mental disorders compared to men, with an odds ratio of 1.8 (El-Wasify et al 2011).…”

“…Inadequate social interactions can lead to loneliness, which in turn can lead to mental illness (Mushtaq et al 2014). A study from Egypt reports that more than a quarter of older men experienced worsening mental health due to failure to marry (Liu 2017). An Iraqi study indicates that that Major Depressive Episode (MDE) was more common in those who were previously married, separated, divorced, or widowed (Al-Hamzawi et al 2015).…”

Challenges and Opportunities Experienced by Young Adults Transitioning Out of Informal Kinship-Based Foster Care in Bikita District, Zimbabwe

“…An exhaustive search of the literature on young adults transitioning to adulthood from informal kinship-based foster care found a few studies that focus on kinship-based foster care. Most studies focus on youth transitioning from formal foster care and residential care and assume that the nuclear family is the best environment (Cameroon, Hauari, & Arisi, 2018; Dziro & Rufurwokuda, 2013; Frimpong-Manso, 2012; Liu, Modrek, & Sieverding, 2017; Van Breda, 2018). This study is unique as it focuses on informal kinship-based foster care where there is no involvement of the state and where grants are not offered.…”