Suicidal Thoughts, Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress, and Harmful Alcohol Use Associated with Intimate Partner Violence and Rape Exposures among Female Students in South Africa

Mercilene Tanyaradzwa Machisa, Esnat Chirwa, Pinky Mahlangu, Ncediswa Nunze, Yandisa Sikweyiya, Elizabeth Dartnall, Managa Pillay and Rachel Jewkes
Additional contact information
Mercilene Tanyaradzwa Machisa: South African Medical Research Council Gender and Health Research Unit, 1 Soutpansberg Road, Pretoria Private Bag x385, Pretoria 0001, South Africa
Esnat Chirwa: South African Medical Research Council Gender and Health Research Unit, 1 Soutpansberg Road, Pretoria Private Bag x385, Pretoria 0001, South Africa
Pinky Mahlangu: South African Medical Research Council Gender and Health Research Unit, 1 Soutpansberg Road, Pretoria Private Bag x385, Pretoria 0001, South Africa
Ncediswa Nunze: South African Medical Research Council Gender and Health Research Unit, 1 Soutpansberg Road, Pretoria Private Bag x385, Pretoria 0001, South Africa
Yandisa Sikweyiya: South African Medical Research Council Gender and Health Research Unit, 1 Soutpansberg Road, Pretoria Private Bag x385, Pretoria 0001, South Africa
Elizabeth Dartnall: Sexual Violence Research Initiative, 28 High Street, Waterkloof, Pretoria 0145, South Africa
Managa Pillay: Department of Basic Education, 222 Struben Street, Pretoria Central, Pretoria 0001, South Africa
Rachel Jewkes: South African Medical Research Council Gender and Health Research Unit, 1 Soutpansberg Road, Pretoria Private Bag x385, Pretoria 0001, South Africa

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 13, 1-17

Abstract: While ample evidence from high-income country settings indicates the prevalence and risk factors for multiple mental ill-health symptoms in student populations, evidence from low- and middle-income higher education settings remains limited. We determined the frequency, associations, and structural pathways between mental health outcomes and possible risk factors among a sample of 1292 predominantly Black African and female students ages 18–30 years, enrolled at nine purposefully selected public universities and Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) campuses. We measured and created a mental ill-health latent outcome consisting of depressive symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicidal thoughts. We also measured traumatic exposures including childhood trauma, recent intimate partner violence (IPV), non-partner rape, and other life traumatic events. We used structural equation modelling to analyse data. We found that 50% of the surveyed students binge drank, 43% reported depressive symptoms, 9% reported PTSD symptoms, and 21% had suicidal thoughts. Students’ experiences of childhood trauma, food insecurity, other traumatic events, non-partner rape, and IPV impacted the mental ill-health latent. IPV experiences mediated the relationships between experiences of childhood trauma or other trauma and the mental ill-health latent, and the relationship between binge drinking and other life traumatic events. Non-partner rape mediated the relationship between food insecurity and the mental ill-health latent. Binge drinking directly impacted non-partner rape experience. The findings substantiate the need for campus-based mental health promotion, psychosocial services and treatments, and implementation of combined interventions that address the intersections of violence against women and mental health among students in South Africa.

Keywords: students; depression; PTSD; harmful alcohol use; suicidal thoughts; intimate partner violence; rape; childhood trauma; South Africa; mental health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/13/7913/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/13/7913/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:13:p:7913-:d:850291

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().