How Can I Feel Safe at Home? Adolescents' Experiences of Family Violence in Ghana.

Despite the implementation of various national legal frameworks and global policies such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to combat violence against young people, family violence against young people is prevalent, especially in WHO African region. Although, research on child maltreatment, specifically, for young children has received considerable attention in Ghana recently, there is little research on adolescents' experiences of such family violence. In this paper, we report the experiences and perceptions of adolescents with respect to family violence they had suffered or witnessed, and analyze the socio-ecological factors and power dynamics at home that contribute to such violence. The study employs a qualitative approach and the data comprise focus group discussion with 56 adolescents from 14 schools in seven districts of Ghana. The findings show that several adolescents in Ghana feel unsafe at home. They experience physical, psychological, and sexual violence as well as exposure to intimate partner violence, exploitation, and neglect. These violent acts were severe, with dire consequences such as permanent impairment and suicide. Perpetrators include all types of carers. The violent acts are often surreptitious and poly-victimization is common. The results also reveal that three main socio-ecological factors perpetuate and legitimize family violence: patriarchy, the normalization of corporal punishment as a method of child discipline, and superstitious beliefs about health. In general, carers demonstrate their superiority and control over the adolescents in an authoritarian manner, thereby, making the adolescents powerless. Implications of the study for policy and practice are discussed.

Socioeconomic and demographic determinants of familial social capital inequalities: a cross-sectional study of young people in sub-Saharan African context.

BACKGROUND: Social capital is broadly acknowledged as a vital 'health asset' that promotes young people's health and wellbeing and has the potential to prevent social- and health-related risk behaviours in the life-course. However, limited research has investigated the determinants of social capital for young people in sub-Saharan Africa. This study examines the role of socioeconomic and demographic factors in establishing inequalities in familial social capital among young people in Ghana. METHODS: The study utilised a cross-sectional survey data involving 2068 in-school adolescents (13-18 years) in the Upper West Region, Ghana. Familial social capital was assessed by 'family sense of belonging', 'family autonomy support' and 'family control'. Multinomial logistic regressions established the relationships between socioeconomic and demographic factors and the measures of familial social capital. RESULTS: Adolescents from low affluence households had about 63 and 61% lower odds of attaining a high family sense of belonging (FSB) (OR = 0.373; 95%CI: 0.27-0.513) and high family autonomy support (FAS) (OR = 0.387; 95%CI: 0.270-0.556) respectively but had 67% higher odds of reporting high family control (FC) (OR = 1.673; 95%CI: 1.187-2.359) than their counterparts. Males had about 55 and 71% higher odds to possess high FSB (OR = 1.549; 95%CI: 1.210-1.983) and high FAS (OR = 1.705; 95%CI: 1.272-2.284) respectively but had 38% lower odds to report high family control (OR = 0.624; 95%CI: 0.474-0.822) than females. The odd of young adolescents to attain high FSB than older adolescents were about 66% higher (OR = 1.662; 95%CI: 1.168-2.367). Religion, educational level, ethnicity, family structure, and marital status were also significant predictors of adolescents' family sense of belonging, family autonomy support and, family control. CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic and demographic factors influence inequalities in the amount of familial social capital possessed by young people which suggests possible risks of social inequality. The family context is possibly failing some cohorts of young people with particular reference to female and poor adolescents regarding familial cognitive social capital. Public health strategies should include families in addressing socioeconomic and demographic differences in social capital with a key focus on the cohorts of young people at risk of social capital inequality.

The mediating role of social capital in the relationship between socioeconomic status and adolescent wellbeing: evidence from Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Social capital is generally portrayed to be protective of adolescents' health and wellbeing against the effects of socioeconomic inequalities. However, few empirical evidence exist on this protective role of social capital regarding adolescents' wellbeing in the low-and middle-income country (LMIC) context. This study examines the potential for social capital to be a protective health resource by investigating whether social capital can mediate the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and wellbeing of Ghanaian adolescents. It also examines how SES and social capital relate to different dimensions of adolescents' wellbeing in different social contexts. METHODS: The study employed a cross-sectional survey involving a randomly selected 2068 adolescents (13-18 years) from 15 schools (8 Senior and 7 Junior High Schools) in Ghana. Relationships were assessed using multivariate regression models. RESULTS: Three measures of familial social capital (family sense of belonging, family autonomy support, and family control) were found to be important protective factors of both adolescents' life satisfaction and happiness against the effects of socioeconomic status. One measure of school social capital (school sense of belonging) was found to augment adolescents' wellbeing but played no mediating role in the SES-wellbeing relationship. A proportion of about 69 and 42% of the total effect of SES on happiness and life satisfaction were mediated by social capital respectively. Moreover, there were variations in how SES and social capital related to the different dimensions of adolescents' wellbeing. CONCLUSION: Social capital is a significant mechanism through which SES impacts the wellbeing of adolescents. Social capital is a potential protective health resource that can be utilised by public health policy to promote adolescents' wellbeing irrespective of socioeconomic inequalities. Moreover, the role of the family (home) in promoting adolescents' wellbeing is superior to that of school which prompts targeted policy interventions. For a holistic assessment of adolescents' subjective wellbeing, both life evaluations (life satisfaction) and positive emotions (happiness) should be assessed concomitantly.

Neighborhood, social isolation and mental health outcome among older people in Ghana.

OBJECTIVE: Loneliness and living alone have been strongly related to mental health but limited empirical evidence of these relationships exists among older people in Ghana. We examine the pathways of independent and interactive impacts of loneliness and living alone on psychological distress (PD) risk among older people in Ghana and to investigate whether the associations are moderated by neighborhood characteristics. METHODS: Data were analyzed for 1200 community-dwelling adults aged ≥50 years from a 2016/2017 Aging, Health, Psychological Wellbeing and Health-seeking Behavior Study. Mental health and loneliness were respectively assessed using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (KPDS-10) and the Three-Item Loneliness Scale of the University of California, Los Angeles. OLS models estimated the associations and interactions. RESULTS: Participants were mostly women (63.3% [95%CI: 60.5-66.0%]) with a mean age of 66.2 ±â€¯11.9. Mean scores for PD and loneliness were 15.9 ±â€¯4.7 and 5.3 ±â€¯3.9 respectively whilst the prevalence of living alone was 38.2% (95%CI: 35.4-41.0%). After full adjustment, the OLS regressions showed that loneliness (ß = 1.474, SE = 0.151, p < 0.001), living alone (ß = 0.381, SE = 0.162, p < 0.05) and the interaction between them (ß = 0.917, SE = 0.308, p < 0.05) significantly increased the PD risk. However, engagement in regular physical activity, family contacts and social participation decreased PD outcomes among the socially isolated. LIMITATION: The cross-sectional nature of the data may prohibit any causal and directional inferences. CONCLUSIONS: Social connectedness and neighborhood engagements strongly buffer against the risk of later life mental disorders in the context of loneliness, and living alone. Moderate-to-rigorous physical activity and social cohesion should be effectively and strategically included in interventions targeted to improve older age mental health.