Associations between psychosocial wellbeing and experience of gender-based violence at community, household, and intimate-partner levels among a cross-sectional cohort of young people living with and without HIV during COVID-19 in Cape Town, South Africa.
BMC Public Health
; 23(1): 2115, 2023 10 27.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37891509
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Growing evidence indicates that gender-based violence (GBV) increased during COVID-19. We investigated self-reported impact of the pandemic on GBV at community, household and intimate partner (IPV) levels among young people and its associations with psychosocial wellbeing, i.e., COVID-related stressors and mental health.METHODS:
Cross-sectional data were drawn from a survey with young people ages 13-24 (N = 536) living with HIV (YPLWH) and without HIV (YPLWoH), in peri-urban Cape Town, South Africa. The survey, conducted February-October 2021, examined the impact of the initial lockdown on experience and perceived changes in GBV at each level, and pandemic-related psychosocial wellbeing. Descriptive statistics and binomial and multinomial regression analyses were conducted to illustrate exposure and perceived changes in GBV since lockdown, and their association with COVID-related stress factors (e.g., social isolation, anxiety about COVID), mental health (e.g., depression, anxiety), and other risk factors (e.g., age, gender, socioeconomic status) by HIV status.RESULTS:
Participants were 70% women with mean age 19 years; 40% were living with HIV. Since lockdown, YPLWoH were significantly more likely than YPLWH to perceive community violence as increasing (45% vs. 28%, p < 0.001), and to report household violence (37% vs. 23%, p = 0.006) and perceive it as increasing (56% vs. 27%, p = 0.002) (ref decreasing violence). YPLWoH were also more likely to report IPV experience (19% vs. 15%, p = 0.41) and perception of IPV increasing (15% vs. 8%, p = 0.92). In adjusted models, COVID-related stressors and common mental health disorders were only associated with household violence. However, indicators of economic status such as living in informal housing (RRR = 2.07; 95% CI = 1.12-3.83) and food insecurity (Community violence RRR = 1.79; 95% CI = 1.00-3.20; Household violence RRR = 1.72; 95% CI = 1.15-2.60) emerged as significant risk factors for exposure to increased GBV particularly among YPLWoH.CONCLUSIONS:
Findings suggest that for young people in this setting, GBV at community and household levels was more prevalent during COVID-19 compared to IPV, especially for YPLWoH. While we found limited associations between COVID-related stressors and GBV, the perceived increases in GBV since lockdown in a setting where GBV is endemic, and the association of household violence with mental health, is a concern for future pandemic responses and should be longitudinally assessed.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Infecciones por VIH
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Violencia de Pareja
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Violencia de Género
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COVID-19
Límite:
Adolescent
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Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
País/Región como asunto:
Africa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
BMC Public Health
Asunto de la revista:
SAUDE PUBLICA
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Suecia