Coping strategies and mental health of adolescents impacted by parental HIV and AIDS in rural South Africa

• Published in: Journal of child and adolescent mental health 2022-06, Vol.ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print), p.1-14
• Main Authors: Asanbe, Comfort, Visser, Maretha, Moleko, Anne-Gloria, Makwakwa, Catherine
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: low-resource community; orphans; psychological well-being; vulnerable youth
• ISSN: 1728-0583; 1728-0591
• DOI: 10.2989/17280583.2022.2058951

Objective: The study explored whether orphanhood status as well as coping strategies predicted mental health outcomes in orphans and vulnerable adolescents who participated in an NGO-supported programme in rural South Africa. Method: Participants comprised 175 adolescents (aged 11-18 years) from a low-resource community, and included non-orphans (n = 57), orphans due to AIDS (n = 62) and orphans due to other causes (n = 56). All participants rated themselves on the age-appropriate Youth Self-Report scales and 95 completed the Children's Coping Strategies Checklist (CCSC). Little's test of data missing completely at random revealed that the CCSC missing data did not display a specific pattern. Results: Active coping negatively predicted internalising, externalising and general psychological problems, while avoidant coping predicted general psychological problems. Orphanhood group status, sex and age did not predict coping strategies used. A higher proportion of orphans by AIDS had elevated scores of internalising problems and all participants on somatic complaints. Conclusions: Active coping strategies minimise the risk for emotional and behavioural problems among the participants. Our findings suggest that agencies and non-governmental organisations that provide services to vulnerable adolescents can facilitate active coping skills to enhance their psychological well-being.