Afghan Youth Research Articles

Improving access to psychological intervention in low-middle income settings: Results from a waitlist-controlled, proof-of-concept trial of the MemFlex intervention for trauma-exposed Afghan youth.

Low-intensity interventions targeting a range of mental health issues offer a scalable approach for young trauma survivors in low-middle income countries. Here, we present results from a proof-of-concept, randomized, waitlist-controlled trial evaluating MemFlex, an autobiographical memory-based intervention, for trauma-exposed Afghan youth residing in Iran. MemFlex seeks to reduce the negative and overgeneral memory biases which maintain and predict poor mental health. Young people aged 12-18 years (N = 40) with parents who had experienced forced migration from Afghanistan were recruited from high schools in Karaj City in Iran. All had experienced a traumatic event in the last year. Participants were randomized to receive four weeks of a group-based delivery of MemFlex or Waitlist. Our primary cognitive outcome was autobiographical memory flexibility, that is, the ability to deliberately retrieve any memory type on demand. Primary clinical outcome was emotional distress, measured on the Farsi version of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist. Results indicated that MemFlex participants demonstrated large effect sizes for pre-to-post improvement in memory flexibility (d = 2.04) and emotional distress (d = 1.23). These improvements were significantly larger than Waitlist (ds < .49), and were maintained at three-month follow-up. Positive benefits were observed for completion of MemFlex, and future comparison against an active intervention appears warranted. Further evaluation of MemFlex in this context may offer a low-cost, and low-resource intervention to improve access to psychological intervention for young migrants in low-middle income countries.

Climate Change Awareness among Young Mass Media Users; Jalalabad, Afghanistan

‌Climate change is a grave challenge for the current century, affecting the lives of people across the globe, especially in developing countries. The study cites Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI, 2011) to claim that Afghanistan is among the countries most threatened by climate change, due to its demographic, geographic, and climatic factors (Ali, 2011). The research is a quantitative analyze of awareness about climate change among mass media users. The research used a sampling frame of 15,310 individuals. Researchers randomly picked 385 of them from different Universities and colleges in Jalalabad City, Afghanistan. Researcher also looked at a lot of books and articles from around the world and locally, to get the data researchers needed. Researchers asked them to fill out a survey questionnaire. Most respondents (36.36%) agreed that media increases users' knowledge about climate change. Moreover, a large majority (44.68%) of respondents agreed that media coverage on climate change have good impact on public. (36.36%) of respondents were neutral on "Climate change is a severe concern for Afghan youth. Most respondent’s answer they watch and follow TV to receive information about climate change. Media gives us a lot of ways to find out more about climate change and what we can do about it. We can follow TV, Radio, Internet, or Newspapers that talk about this issue and share useful tips and facts. Policy makers can use it to improve how we communicate and educate people about climate change. Policy makers can also use it to motivate people to change their habits and attitudes towards the environment.

Studying Facebook as a Source of News (Case Study of Afghan Youth)

The main claim in this research is "studying Facebook as a news source". Facebook is now a news source like other media, and users become members of the Facebook virtual network in order to access the events of the day. The method of this research is a survey, and the measuring tool is also a questionnaire. After completing the questionnaires, the findings were obtained and analyzed at the descriptive level through SPSS software. The statistical population of the research includes all Facebook users in Balkh Province, Afghanistan. The sampling method in this research was based on the use of available people, and finally 500 people completed the researcher's questionnaire. The results of this research showed that the majority of users of the Facebook virtual network are young people, and Facebook has become a serious source of news among users, and in fact, the purpose of using Facebook for most of the respondents is to receive daily news. In other words, the importance of using other features of Facebook are secondary. It should also be noted that the main source of news for users was Facebook at first, and then it included television, radio, news agencies and printed publications. The lack of Facebook filter, the diversity of its news, the ease of producing news, the speed of news dissemination, the freshness, the brevity of the news, the speed of access, the ease of access, the production and consumption of news by autopilots, its universality, freedom of expression, are the important factors in the tendency of users to Facebook news in Afghanistan. The uncertain atmosphere (economy, security, politics) has greatly increased the need of the people of this country to the events.

The Impact of Social Media in Afghanistan: A Multi-Disciplinary Study.

The rapid growth of social media has profoundly transformed communication, community building, and information sharing worldwide. In Afghanistan, the proliferation of social media platforms has significantly impacted the social, cultural, and political landscape, particularly among the youth. This multi-disciplinary study aims to explore the diverse effects of social media on Afghan youth, focusing on usage patterns, mental health implications, entertainment-driven time allocation, financial expenditures, exposure to explicit content, and academic performance. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between September and December 2023, gathering responses from 1556 participants (67% males, 33% females) through various social media platforms. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26.0, employing statistical tests such as ANOVA and Chi-Square to examine relationships between social media usage and its impacts. The study reveals significant links between social media usage and demographic, behavioral, and mental health factors. Key findings include Facebook as the most used platform (83.6%), with the majority of participants spending 1-3 hours daily on social media. Age differences in time spent were significant (F=15.64, p<0.001). Entertainment was the primary use (45.5%), with gender differences in engagement levels. High anxiety (78.5%) and moderate depression (38.3%) were reported. Significant associations between social media use and mental health were found (eg, χ2=591.87, p<0.001 for nervousness). Excessive use negatively impacted study habits, with 25.7% feeling it hindered their academic performance. This study highlights the multifaceted impacts of social media on Afghan youth, including both positive aspects like enhanced communication and empowerment and negative aspects such as mental health issues and academic challenges. The significant relationships between social media usage and various life aspects underscore the need for targeted interventions to promote healthy digital habits and mitigate adverse effects. Further research is recommended to explore long-term impacts and effective strategies for managing social media use among Afghan youth.

Factors Affecting Criminal Behavior of Afghan Youth: A Case Study of Kabul Province Afghanistan

One of Afghanistan's primary challenges is its high rate of criminal activities. The alarming rise in the number of crimes committed across the country is becoming a matter of great concern. It is popular to relate criminal activities with the poor physical, psychological, social and economic situation of the impoverished part of the population. The most prominent factors contributing to youth criminal behavior in Afghanistan are the country's high levels of poverty, unemployment, and corruption. Keeping all of these facts in mind, the major objective of this study was to analyze the factors affecting youth criminal behavior in Kabul, Afghanistan. In this study quantitative research approach was used. Field surveys were the primary method for collecting the data. A multistage random sampling technique was used for collecting the data. Firstly, two districts were chosen at random from central Kabul. The Kabul Children's Reform and Education Center was a deliberate choice for the second stage. the third stage involved selecting a sample size of 300 responders in a way that was purposeful. A questionnaire was designed as a data collection instrument, and collected data was analyzed using version 25 of the SPSS program. According to the findings of the survey, the majority of the respondents who were involved in criminal activities were between the ages of 21 and 25, and they were married. Univariate analysis revealed that, the primary factors contributing to youth criminal behavior include poverty, unemployment, lack of socializing and peer pressure. Bivariate analysis revealed that youth unemployment and excessive use of social media were factors that contributed to criminal activities. Hence, this study suggested that government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) should work together to raise awareness and foster youth empowerment in order to ensure that individuals have the skills and knowledge necessary to engage in the job market and become productive members of society.

The precarious lives and survival strategies of unaccompanied Afghan youth in Türkiye

Unaccompanied children who do not or cannot access the child protection system in Türkiye often become engaged in child labor and find themselves living in precarity. This paper highlights narratives of survival within their culturally-assumed transition to manhood based on empirical research on the life experiences of 12 unaccompanied, male Afghan youth who came to Türkiye as unaccompanied children. These narratives reflect patriarchal culture, particularly the Taliban’s extreme manifestations of patriarchy, both in a context of war and violence. Unaccompanied Afghan children migrate for survival and, after dangerous journeys, live as irregular migrants. Their daily life is marked by (1) fear of police and deportation, (2) child labor, (3) long and challenging work routines, (4) lack of leisure time, schooling, adult protection or support and (5) lack of social security. As a result, they develop survival strategies to manage their precarious lives. Their narratives share commonalities focusing on the conditionalities of constructing manhood.

Роль СССР в развитии системы образования Афганистана между 1933 и 1978 гг.

Prior to Soviet cultural and educational co-operation, Afghanistan had an outdated education system based on a traditional approach to teaching. Interaction with the USSR modernized the programs and methods of prima-ry, secondary and higher education in the country. Cultural and educational long-term contracts were conclud-ed, scientific training programs were launched, and training courses were developed for Afghan youth in the Soviet Union’s higher educational institutions. This article attempts to ascertain which areas of education in Afghanistan were most strongly influenced by the Soviet state. It is emphasized that the USSR participation in the transformation of the educational system of Afghanistan consisted not only in the organization of educa-tional institutions of various levels throughout the country, but also in the construction of infrastructure to ensure the educational process in the most problematic areas in this regard, in the creation of adapted curricula, in providing the youth of Afghanistan with the opportunity to undergo professional training in Soviet universities in order to eliminate the personnel deficit in the country; in financial support of studying youth through the pay-ment of scholarships. Both adverse and beneficial results of co-operation between the two countries in the field of education are considered.

Embodying Place

AbstractThis article explores the implications of the Making Home Project, a participatory audio‐visual media project with migrant and refugee youth in Iran. This project does not picture the faces of youth as they express caring relationships and attachments to the people and places within the migrant neighborhoods where they reside—places locally characterized as poor, dangerous, and transient. I examine the audio, the visual and the off‐screen encounters of this participatory production to demonstrate how media outcomes are shaped by Afghan youth's differently situated refugee experiences in Iran. Ultimately, I argue that space and place are actualized through the embodied act of youth expressing and producing audio‐visual media about their homeplace.

Taliban Yönetimi Altındaki Afganistan’da Pasif Siyâset ve Mânevî Direniş

Peoples of Central Asia in general and Afghanistan specifically have been traumatized by Western colonial aggression, occupation and low intensity forever wars for more than a century. Much has been written about their armed struggles in this region, but their passive and spiritual resistances have been for the most part ignored. In this paper I discuss two significant forms of their passive resistance: the saga of the repeated century-long transnational migration of a small community of Kirghiz (Kirgiz) from the Osh Valley to the Pamirs of Afghanistan and from there to the safety of Anatolia in eastern Turkey; and the reliance of the educated Afghan youth on the spiritual resistance poetry of Rumi and other masters to cope patiently with the tyrannical environment of the Taliban controlled Afghanistan. Key words: Spiritual resistance, poetic of resistance, migration, Afghan Kighiz, Afghan youth, Taliban.

Afghan Youth's Expectation for Educational, Economic and Political Development during the Reign of Taliban

Various aspects of life have been dramatically shifted when the Taliban conquers Afghanistan recently. However, the changes occurring in sectors of education, economy, and politics have been acquired as the prominent issues to be discussed for the three factors will become the ground of the country's development. Thus, the study will be concentrated on the expectation of young Afghani for their country in the three aspects of education, economy, and politics. The study employs the qualitative method of the phenomenological approach. The data is acquired through in-depth interviews with twenty-five informants, consisting of five scholars, seven academicians, and thirteen influential youngsters in Afghanistan. Analysis of the data is conducted through Interactive Miiles and Hubberman technique. The findings indicate four expectations of young Afghanis in general. First, gender equality in education sectors that males and females should gain similar opportunities at every level of education. Second, the duration of primary education should be shortened to twelve years as the reign recently requires elementary education for fourteen years. Third, the current curriculum should be reformed to be a more systematic, professional, and skill-oriented curriculum that graduates are qualified for job demands. Fourth, Despite of high-income tax which almost gains 50%, the reign should lower the income tax to 10% to invite investors to arrive in Afghanistan. Fifth, it is expected that the reign establishes political stability for every community group and the international world. The findings are expected to be relevant input for the reign of the Taliban for a better Afghanistan in the future.

These are the stories of our physical activities: Decolonial re-existence and poetry

In this paper, I aim to disseminate the knowledge that was generated during participatory art-based action research on which I collaborated with a group of young Afghan asylum seekers in Sweden. The focus of the research was the lived experiences of the youth in relation to sport and physical activity. I have chosen a narrative poem that I crafted using vox participare (voices of participants) (Norton &amp; Sliep, 2019) to do this work. In this way, I have grounded the dissemination of our research in the shared epistemology of our peoples, the Khorasani peoples of central/western Asia. By adopting the persona of شاعر (the poet) (Olszewska, 2015), and by writing in a reflective manner that does not obscure my own privilege, I work towards decolonising the process of research and knowledge generation as it relates to sport. I attempt to show how Afghan youth re-make sport (and physical activity) in ways that re-create conditions of dignity for themselves and their community in their everyday living. In this way, I aim to disrupt the dominant understandings about what sport is, what it is supposed to do, and how it can be utilised by those who are living with social injustices.

Educational Transitions in War and Refugee Contexts: Youth Biographies in Afghanistan and Austria

This article addresses educational transitions under conditions of multiple insecurities. By analyzing empirical data of two research projects with youths in Afghanistan and refugee students in Austria, we show how young peoplemake sense of the social and educational inequalities they encounter on their educational pathways within different national, socio‐political, and institutional contexts. We present in‐depth analyses of two cases to elaborate how young people in different parts of the world conceive of their futures when basic security needs are not met, and how they make sense of the social and educational inequalities they face during their transition processes. After living through repeatedly fractured perspectives, young people have to make sense of their biographical experiences and continuously (re)design their plans while facing uncertain futures. In the Afghan Youth Project, we reconstructed a collective—and morally charged—biographical orientation of future plans. This orientation can also be understood as a critical response to persistent fragility and inequality and suggests an imagined generational hold and sense of belonging. In the Austrian project Translating Wor(l)ds, we reconstructed continuing experiences of educational exclusion, marginalization, and devaluation in different migration societies throughout refugee routes. Educational transitions, which can be challenging for all young people, take on special relevance under these conditions. Combining biographical and socio‐psychological research perspectives allows us to reconstruct educational processes as cumulative, non‐linear processes and to reveal the ambiguities, contradictions, and ruptures woven into them, as well as the subjects’ constructions of sense and agency.

Challenging the stigma of premarital sex in urban Afghanistan

Premarital sex is normatively unacceptable in Afghanistan, yet rapid social and cultural transformation in the country may be changing these traditional norms. In dialogue with cross-national scholarship, we examine attitudes toward premarital sex and experience of premarital sexual behaviours among urban Afghan youth. We use data from 1256 never married individuals aged 15–29 surveyed in ten Afghan cities. The results show that respondents, on average, have moderately liberal attitudes toward premarital sex and that almost one quarter of them had engaged in either sexual foreplay or penetrative intercourse. Multivariable results indicate that premarital sexual attitudes and behaviours were significantly associated with several individual-level characteristics, family and intergenerational relationships, and social ties and interactions. At the same time, instructive gender variations emerge. The findings illustrate the dynamics of premarital sexual relations in this and similar contexts where such relations are traditionally stigmatised but multifaceted, societal changes increasingly challenge this stigma.

Підготовка афганських студентів у навчальних закладах Української РСР у 1980-х рр. (на прикладі м. Кіровограда)

Introduction. Within the framework of the “socialist orientation” policy, pursued by the USSR in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in the 1980s, an important place was given to the reorganization of the system of education due to the Soviet model. An important role in the education of Afghan youth in the spirit of the “ideals of the April Revolution” was given to the education of Afghans in educational institutions of the Soviet Union. The purpose of this article is to study the issue of training Afghan students in the Ukrainian SSR on the example of educational institutions in Kirovograd and to clarify its place in the structure of the socialist transformation of Afghanistan in the 1980-s. The research methodology is based on content analysis of historical sources, problem-chronological, typological, retrospective methods. Main results and conclusions. During the Cold War the education of citizens of “third world” countries in Soviet educational institutions was an effective element of policy aimed at promoting the interests of the USSR in the world. During the years of such purposeful work, thousands of qualified specialists of various specialties for Afghanistan have been trained in Soviet higher and vocational schools. At the same time, a whole generation of Afghans had been brought up and who, after studying in the Soviet Union, became the bearers of the “Marxist-Leninist worldview,” sincerely admired the Soviet reality and wanted to transfer at least some elements of it to their homeland. Studying in the USSR in the 1960’s and 1970’s contributed to the spread of Marxist ideas in Afghanistan, which was embodied in the “April Revolution” of 1978. In the next decade the training of Afghans in the USSR was a means of forming a large pro-Soviet stratum of Afghan society under Soviet occupation, Scientific novelty of research results. For the first time in Ukrainian historiography, the problem of educating the citizens of Afghanistan in educational institutions of the Ukrainian SSR in the 1980s as a component of the policy of “socialist orientation” has been studied. Based on a study of a wide documentary base, it was established that ideological and political education, instilling in them “Marxist-Leninist worldview” and “ideals of the April Revolution” was the main component of working with Afghan students.

Getting health information to internally displaced youth in Afghanistan: can mobile phone technology bridge the gap?

Background: Afghanistan ranks among the most disadvantaged globally for many key reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) indicators, despite important gains in the past decade. Youth (15 to 24 years) are a key audience for RMNCH information as they enter adulthood, marry and begin families; however, reaching Afghan youth with health information is challenging. Internally displaced persons (IDPs), including youth, experience additional challenges to obtaining health-related information and services. This study measured current and preferred RMNCH information channels to explore the feasibility of using mobile phone technology to provide RMNCH information to IDP youth in Afghanistan. Methods: We conducted a sub-group analysis of survey data from a mixed-methods, cross-sectional, formative assessment to understand current access to RMNCH information. The target population for this analysis includes 15-25-year-old male and female IDP youth from three Afghan Provinces. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire administered through face-to-face interviews. Data were analyzed descriptively. Results: A total of 450 IDP youth were surveyed in the three provinces (225 male and 225 female). Access to RMNCH information outside of health facilities was limited. Mobile phone ownership was nearly universal among male participants, yet considerably lower among females; nearly all participants without personal phones reported access to phones when needed. Although few participants spontaneously mentioned mobile phones as a preferred source of RMNCH information, most male and female respondents reported they would be very or somewhat likely to use a free, mobile-phone-based system to access such information if offered. Conclusions: Given widespread access and considerable interest voiced by participants, mobile phones may be a viable way to reach IDP youth with important RMNCH health information in this fragile setting. Interventions should be designed and pilot-tested to identify the most appropriate platforms and information content and to further document feasibility and acceptability.

Getting health information to internally displaced youth in Afghanistan: can mobile phone technology bridge the gap?

Background: Afghanistan ranks among the most disadvantaged globally for many key reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) indicators, despite important gains in the past decade. Youth (15 to 24 years) are a key audience for RMNCH information as they enter adulthood, marry and begin families; however, reaching Afghan youth with health information is challenging. Internally displaced persons (IDPs), including youth, experience additional challenges to obtaining health-related information and services. This study measured current and preferred RMNCH information channels to explore the feasibility of using mobile phone technology to provide RMNCH information to IDP youth in Afghanistan. Methods: We conducted a sub-group analysis of survey data from a mixed-methods, cross-sectional, formative assessment to understand current access to RMNCH information. The target population for this analysis includes 15-25-year-old male and female IDP youth from three Afghan Provinces. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire administered through face-to-face interviews. Data were analyzed descriptively. Results: A total of 450 IDP youth were surveyed in the three provinces (225 male and 225 female). Access to RMNCH information outside of health facilities was limited. Mobile phone ownership was nearly universal among male participants, yet considerably lower among females; nearly all participants without personal phones reported access to phones when needed. Although few participants spontaneously mentioned mobile phones as a preferred source of RMNCH information, most male and female respondents reported they would be very or somewhat likely to use a free, mobile-phone-based system to access such information if offered. Conclusions: Given widespread access and considerable interest voiced by participants, mobile phones may be a viable way to reach IDP youth with important RMNCH health information in this fragile setting. Interventions should be designed and pilot-tested to identify the most appropriate platforms and information content and to further document feasibility and acceptability.

Getting health information to internally displaced youth in Afghanistan: can mobile phone technology bridge the gap?

Background: Afghanistan ranks among the most disadvantaged globally for many key reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) indicators, despite important gains in the past decade. Youth (15 to 24 years) are a key audience for RMNCH information as they enter adulthood, marry and begin families; however, reaching Afghan youth with health information is challenging. Internally displaced persons (IDPs), including youth, experience additional challenges to obtaining health-related information and services. This study measured current and preferred RMNCH information channels to explore the feasibility of using mobile phone technology to provide RMNCH information to IDP youth in Afghanistan. Methods: We conducted a sub-group analysis of survey data from a mixed-methods, cross-sectional, formative assessment to understand current access to RMNCH information. The target population for this analysis includes 15-25-year-old male and female IDP youth from three Afghan Provinces. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire administered through face-to-face interviews. Data were analyzed descriptively. Results: A total of 450 IDP youth were surveyed in the three provinces (225 male and 225 female). Access to RMNCH information outside of health facilities was limited. Mobile phone ownership was nearly universal among male participants, yet considerably lower among females; nearly all participants without personal phones reported access to phones when needed. Although few participants spontaneously mentioned mobile phones as a preferred source of RMNCH information, most male and female respondents reported they would be very or somewhat likely to use a free, mobile-phone-based system to access such information if offered. Conclusions: Given widespread access and considerable interest voiced by participants, mobile phones may be a viable way to reach IDP youth with important RMNCH health information in this fragile setting. Interventions should be designed and pilot-tested to identify the most appropriate platforms and information content and to further document feasibility and acceptability.

What's Keeping Some from Seeking Asylum? A Field Report Exploring Determinants and Implications for Fostering a Social Contract for Young People in Afghanistan

AbstractWe examined characteristics of Afghan youth who intend to stay in Afghanistan, a generation of young people critical to rebuilding the country. A survey of 232 young adults residing in Kabul assessed various demographic, health and psychological factors. The majority of participants reported that they had no intent to seek asylum, and our analyses showed that these individuals were financially stable, physically healthier, experienced less stress, resilient and more hopeful for their country's sociopolitical future when compared to those intending on seeking asylum. Findings provide justification for renewing a social contract that assures various protections and opportunities for social advancement. © 2018 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

“Afghanistan is a silent bird. But I am an eagle”: An Arts-Based Investigation of Nation and Identity in Afghan Youth

Western development organizations frequently target youth in conflict settings to participate in peaceful, cooperative activities to promote nation-building and deter violence. In this article, Heddy Lahmann examines the narratives of fifteen youth who participated in a US-funded nonformal arts education program in Afghanistan, which operated with the key objective of promoting national identity in its participants. Using open-ended interviews coupled with an arts-based research technique, Lahmann investigates how Afghan youth perceive their identity in relation to the nation. Her research indicates that national identity arguments do not adequately address other salient intersections of identity, such as an individual's developmental stage in life and the significance of gender, and largely leave out the influence of colonialism on the way national identity is conceptualized in non-Western contexts. Lahmann argues that program designers and policy makers must incorporate the local knowledge and experiences of youth and address the unique needs of various groups, including marginalized populations and young women versus young men, to effectively engage them in education efforts.

Reflecting the potential role of family counselling in addressing emotional issues in Afghan youth

Working with family conflicts can be a challenging task for counsellors. In a collectivist society, such as Afghanistan, where interactions between people of the opposite sex are highly regulated, counselling sessions with an individual involved in a family conflict may not be very effective unless conducted in a culturally sensitive manner. As asking for help from professionals may be considered to be ‘lunatic’, as well as a potential threat to the honour of the family, family counselling is not often easy to carry out and may actually pose risks to the client and to the counsellor. Therefore, family counselling is likely to be more effective if counsellors team up with respected members of the community, such as social workers and religious leaders, to deliver family counselling.