Mental Violence Research Articles

Ambivalent sexism, mental health and partner violence among opposite-sex and same-sex couples

Ambivalent sexism has been described as influencing relationships in intimacy and partner abuse. Among 456 Spaniards, this study aimed to explore the association between mental health, ambivalent sexism and violence among opposite-sex and same-sex couples. Results showed that participants in abusive relationships presented higher levels of ambivalent and hostile sexism, regardless of partner’s sex. Psychological violence was associated with ambivalent and hostile sexism. Moderate physical violence was linked to hostile sexism. Participants in abusive relationships reported poorer mental health indexes. These findings highlight the need of interventions to focus on dimensions as sexism towards women, even when considering same-sex couples.

The Mad King: violence and vulnerability in professional wrestling

Abstract This article explores the articulation of masculinity in professional wrestling, focusing on how violence can be used to forward alternative performances to hegemonic masculinity. Many modern professional wrestlers are more frequently and openly breaking with traditional masculinity in not just their in-ring/on-screen performances, but also in mediums that blur the lines of the fiction. I detail how one performer, Eddie Kingston, articulates masculinity alongside his own real-life struggles with and the importance of mental health, vulnerability, and violence. In doing so, I contend Kingston performs what I call a nascent masculinity, an emergent reconfiguration or articulation of masculinity that positions key characteristics of traditional hegemonic masculinity in such a way that at least potentially produces something non-hegemonic, and non-toxic. Crucially, such examples reflect the complex relationship between violence and meaning.

Black girls don’t cry? Mental health, gender, and violence on the racialized periphery.

Black girls don’t cry? Mental health, gender, and violence on the racialized periphery.

Impacts for health and care workers of Covid-19 and other public health emergencies of international concern: living systematic review, meta-analysis and policy recommendations

BackgroundHealth and care workers (HCW) faced the double burden of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: as members of a society affected by a public health emergency and as HWC who experienced fear of becoming infected and of infecting others, stigma, violence, increased workloads, changes in scope of practice, among others. To understand the short and long-term impacts in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic and other public health emergencies of international concern (PHEICs) on HCW and relevant interventions to address them, we designed and conducted a living systematic review (LSR).MethodsWe reviewed literature retrieved from MEDLINE—PubMed, Embase, SCOPUS, LILACS, the World Health Organization COVID-19 database, the ClinicalTrials.org and the ILO database, published from January 2000 until December 2021. We included quantitative observational studies, experimental studies, quasi-experimental, mixed methods or qualitative studies; addressing mental, physical health and well-being and quality of life. The review targeted HCW; and interventions and exposures, implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic or other PHEICs. To assess the risk of bias of included studies, we used the Johanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Tools. Data were qualitatively synthetized using meta-aggregation and meta-analysis was performed to estimate pooled prevalence of some of the outcomes.ResultsThe 1013 studies included in the review were mainly quantitative research, cross-sectional, with medium risk of bias/quality, addressing at least one of the following: mental health issue, violence, physical health and well-being, and quality of life. Additionally, interventions to address short- and long-term impact of PHEICs on HCW included in the review, although scarce, were mainly behavioral and individual oriented, aimed at improving mental health through the development of individual interventions. A lack of interventions addressing organizational or systemic bottlenecks was noted.DiscussionPHEICs impacted the mental and physical health of HCW with the greatest toll on mental health. The impact PHEICs are intricate and complex. The review revealed the consequences for health and care service delivery, with increased unplanned absenteeism, service disruption and occupation turnover that subvert the capacity to answer to the PHEICs, specifically challenging the resilience of health systems.

Violence within women's prisons and its implications on reintegration effectiveness

The involvement of women in various aspects of life, both socially and economically, has exposed the potential for criminal behaviour among women. This situation has led to the phenomenon of women's involvement in criminal acts commonly associated with men, such as robbery, murder, organized crime, and human trafficking. Poor social and economic conditions tend to be triggering factors and solid reasons for women to engage in criminal activities. This background has become the basis for the increasing number of women in prison in Indonesia, opening the possibility of various forms of violence within women's prisons. This presents a significant challenge for the management of women's prisons in optimizing the reintegration system due to the escalation of significant demotivation resulting from the violence experienced by female inmates, both among themselves and with prison staff. This research employs an exploratory qualitative approach, focusing on women involved in criminal cases and sentenced to prison. Primary data from interview results are descriptively analysed, producing a comprehensive, authentic, and representative narrative. The findings of this study indicate that the concept of punishment in Indonesia still emphasizes punitive functions over corrective functions, where both physical and mental violence are considered effective forms of punishment, especially for women. Violence occurring within women's prisons is then negatively responded to and becomes a driving factor for the decreased interest of female inmates in succeeding in the reintegration program. This reluctance then triggers a negative response from the staff in the form of violence against female inmates. A solution to mitigate violence in women's prisons is the placement in open prisons, with the involvement of independent external parties in both the supervision process and the implementation of reintegration programs to achieve an inclusive and constructive effect for all parties involved.

Prevalence, correlates and trends of intimate partner violence among Indigenous and northern youths in the Northwest Territories, Canada

Background Intimate partner violence (IPV) is rising in Canada and disproportionately affects Indigenous communities in the Northwest Territories largely due to the harmful, ongoing effects of settler colonialisation. Youth are known to be at high risk for IPV, but scant evidence exists about the scale of IPV and strategies for its prevention among youth in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Methods We conducted a serial cross-sectional study that measured the prevalence, correlates and four-year violence trends among youths participating in a land- and arts-based programme in the Northwest Territories. Researchers recruited 240 youths aged 12 to 19 to participate in an Indigenous-led land- and arts-based retreat designed to promote resilience, empowerment, and relational well-being among youth. The study period was from 2018 to 2021, and each annual retreat contained a mix of new and returning participants. At each retreat, participants were asked to report, in a self-administered survey, if they had experienced or perpetrated IPV in the past 12 months. Results Youths reported a high prevalence of experiencing (62%) and perpetrating (55%) IPV. For every one-unit increase in depression severity score, participants were 30% more likely to experience IPV) and 24% more likely to perpetrate IPV. Although the prevalence of experiencing and perpetrating IPV decreased by 6% and 14%, between 2018 and 2021, this trend was not statistically significant. Conclusions The high prevalence of IPV, linked to depression among youths in our study, calls for integrated mental health and violence prevention programming with youth in the Northwest Territories. Future programmes should use a strengths-based and decolonised approach to address the underlying effects of settler colonialism on the social dynamics that sustain IPV in Northern and Indigenous communities.

“Women are Able”: A Photovoice Study of Patriarchal Culture and Psychological Impact of Domestic Violence on Women in West Timor

ABSTRACT Patriarchal culture still dominates in certain societal cultures and causes gender gaps and injustices that can affect the unequal treatment of men and women. Culture can be one of the triggering factors for violence. Cases of domestic violence increase every year, which can impact unfavorable mental health conditions for victims of violence. Women who experience violence sometimes just stay silent in the face of what happened to them without putting up any resistance or help. This study aims to determine patriarchal culture, domestic violence, and their impact on women’s mental health in Kefamenanu. The method used in this research is a qualitative method using photovoice techniques. Eight participants were involved in photo-taking, interviews, focus group and online photo dissemination session. The results of this study indicate that patriarchal culture has many negative impacts on women, one of which is that it can cause physical and mental violence. The application of patriarchal culture still overlaps, sometimes it is fair or not between men and women, and there is also resistance to the application of patriarchal culture.

Abuse of Matrimonial Laws by Wife and Role of Judiciary in Preventing Cruelty Against Husband: An Analysis

Indian marriages are considered sacred and they are once in a lifetime affair. It is a social folklore which has countless practices and rituals and is supposed to be not only between two homoserines but popularly among two units of humans who are extra ordinarily involved. It is an affair where lots of favours are put forward. Lately, it has been observed that the couples experience incompatibilities and distress. Discontent between the couples is the only reason that divorce rate and separations have increased attributing to Economic, social and cultural factors. This has assisted to an unprecedented social calamity. Centers like family and other law courts plus counseling cells and police administration that are said to be responsible for restoring social justice are extremely milked and over burdened. This has led people to adopt the trending concept of live in relationships. It is a traditionally accepted and established fact that a man is always considered as a macho and is physically stronger than the women whereas on the other side women have an extended hand on mental strength. This caters to the need of protection of men from mental violence if women are protected from physical violence. It has become a notion that when it comes to domestic violence cases and marital disputes, the husband with his entire pedigree and companions are said to harass the bride and are sketched as needy of dowry. This concept has been grasped by the legal and social systems of India. In the orthodox Indian society women have been victimized traditionally this is the reason the social and legal systems are obsessed and extremely concerned to protect the women from violence. This obsession has led to ignorance of misuse of various laws by wife and her relatives falsely accusing and harassing the legal mate and his pedigree by levying untrue and baseless averments and also by soliciting provisions of Anti-Dowry law. The women centric laws are misused only for blackmailing sympathy and extortion. In the era of Article 14 of the Constitution there are laws for the safety of women who falsely or truly claim to be harassed but at the same time there are no safeguards against harassment which is caused by wife to their bridegrooms. When a husband turned accused fights for his innocence the corrupt system, the feminist organizations, the police and the courts reminds him of systematic bias. There are special women-centric laws that provide for the safety of women who claim to be harassed. However, there are no safeguards against harassment caused by wives against the husbands.

On the margins of suicide: everyday horizons, turning points and trajectories of protection in peripheral young women.

Suicidal behavior and non-suicidal self-harm in vulnerable groups and population minorities pose a challenge for suicidology, complicating the universality of suicide. The goal of this paper is to analyze the lives of young women from marginalized communities, considering their experiences with suicidality and their relational and violent horizons. Nine women who took part in the fifth wave of a cohort on mental health and violence (2005-2022) in São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, were interviewed (2022) about the contexts that kept them from committing suicide despite significant emotional distress from childhood through youth. From theme-based content analysis, three categories stood out and may contribute to an intersectional, decolonial and socially relevant approach to preventing self-destructive behavior. In the first, views on self-inflicted violence, better explained by the cores concepts of "sin" and "illness" than by the general violence they experienced. In the second, indirect references to self-harm behavior, where it was recognized that the use of euphemisms reflects not only the taboo but also the silencing of and discrimination against minorities. In the third, layers of protection and turning points, where "spirituality", "occupation" and "motherhood" were interpreted as the main associations between factors of protection and resilience in the trajectories and daily lives of these young women. A closer look that acknowledges the humanity, rights and psychological distress of groups subjected to violence and discrimination not only enhances care and prevention of suicidal behavior but also deepens understanding of this human and universal phenomenon.

The Most Vulnerable Children Faced Unique Risks During COVID-19: How Agencies Communicated with Communities on Parenting in Low Resource and Humanitarian Settings

Evidence suggests that children in low resource and humanitarian settings experienced added mental health burdens and violence in the home during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic, which may have affected their health and development. For humanitarian response agencies, conducting child protection services during this pandemic had been constrained by safety concerns related to the risk of COVID-19 transmission, and logistical issues aligned with social and public health measures. This paper describes how agencies responded to the identified risks children face, integrating remote risk communication and community engagement approaches and safe in-person dialogues with parents and caregivers into child protection interventions to educate about the disease and prevention, encourage a positive parenting environment and mitigate negative effects on children. United Nations (UN) agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs) must reflect on these different approaches and share lessons learned and best practices internally and at an inter-agency level to support evidence-based responses for future epidemics and pandemics.

THREAT" AS MENTAL VIOLENCE IN THE SYSTEM OF WAYS OF COMMITTING OFFICIAL VIOLENT CRIMES (ON THE EXAMPLE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT PRACTICE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION)

Statistics of official violent crimes committed by law enforcement officers, on the one hand, indicates a decrease in their number, on the other – the latency of such acts and opposition to their investigation due to the loyal attitude of law enforcement officers themselves. In 2016, 949 crimes were registered under paragraphs "a, b, c" of Part 3 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, in 2017 – 799, in 2018 – 711, in 2019 – 626, in 2020 – 503, in 2021 - 367. In this regard, of particular importance in the investigation of such crimes is the correct establishment of the methods of their commission. Based on the analysis carried out by the author, both criminal-legal and scientific questions of the definition of "threat" as mental violence in the system of ways of committing the crimes under consideration were raised. The novelty of the topic of the publication lies in the study of "threat" as mental violence in the system of ways of committing official violent crimes through the prism of scientific sources and law enforcement practice. The purpose of this publication is to define the term "threat", to establish a correct assessment of mental violence in the system of methods of committing official violent crimes, to highlight special signs of "threat" as mental violence. On the basis of theory and law enforcement practice, the author reveals the term "threat" taking into account the specifics of official violent crimes, the boundaries of mental violence in these categories of cases are established, certain signs of "threat" as mental violence are highlighted, legislative ideas are proposed.

The poetics of identity making: precarity and agency in Tahmima Anam’s The Good Muslim

ABSTRACT Bangladesh experienced a massive surge in humanitarian crises after the 1971 Liberation War due to the systematic use of violence at both public and private spheres. Fictional accounts of the post-conflict period depict women as subjected to institutionalised sexism and aggravated physical and mental violence. Critical studies on such narratives often reiterate a stereotypical and essentialising discourse surrounding women’s identity, characterising them as helpless and passive victims of discrimination and exploitation. Drawing upon Judith Butler’s notions of precarity and agency, we argue that the Bangladeshi-born British writer Tahmima Anam’s The Good Muslim transcends victimhood narratives by creating a more nuanced image of woman as vulnerable victims and resisting subjects at the same time. The novel is preoccupied with notions of vulnerability, violence, religious zealotry, and family estrangement. The findings reveal that the precariousness of women in the post-war period is caused and aggravated by violence and oppression perpetrated at political, social, and religious spheres. Female characters like Maya and Piya are presented as empowered agents of transformation when it comes to vulnerable situations that render them as insignificant and precarious. The study concludes that the novel contests and alters the stereotypical representations of women embedded in normalising and hegemonic discourses.

Travis Hirschi’s Social Control Theory (SCT): Yoruba Family-Value and Domestic Violence Against Married Women

Objectives: Domestic violence against married women (DVAMW) is a major challenge facing many married women in family-relationships today. Its menace is not only altering the expected peaceful union and unity in family-settings but, equally, affecting most married-victims from performing their necessary roles or obligations in family-settings. The paper seeks to examine Yoruba family-values, Yoruba family-structure, and the Yoruba-culture, in details. Methods: The paper grounded in exploratory research, is anchored on Social Control Theory (SCT) and secondary data sourced through peer-reviewed journals, edited books, news magazines, and credible on-line resources to explore DVAMW as a culture off-shoot that is depriving, if not denying, most married women the expected love, support, satisfaction, socialization, and equity within the family system. Results: The paper finds that the patriarchal system entrenched in the Yoruba-culture gave married men undue preference and domination over married women while 'socializing' women to endure men's physical, mental, and psychological violence in family-setting, especially. Conclusions: The paper concludes that couples should imbibe the spirit of love and oneness/unity to avoid any cultural, religious, family, or self-arrogated values that may likely promote DVAMW in family-settings. It is thus, recommended that spouses should focus more on how to understand and manage one another properly in order to have and enjoy a successful family-relationships, while the society should guide and guard against any value-system that may likely promote gender-inequality and, by extension, DVAMW in particular.

Marital violence in the focus of sociological research

The article analyzes the phenomenon of marital violence. The empirical object of the study is the population of the Republic of Mordovia. The purpose of the study is to assess the current situation and identify the main factors and causes of domestic violence against spouses. The authors consider the types and forms of marital violence, the level and frequency of abuse, and the determinants of family violence. As part of the sociological research, a survey of residents aged 18 and older was conducted. The sample size was 384 people, the representative features were gender, age, place of residence. The gender and age structure of the respondents corresponds to the structure of the region's population. A quantitative method was used as a tool for collecting primary information — an individual face-to-face interview at the respondent's place of residence using a paper questionnaire (PAPI) and a CAWI survey using an interactive questionnaire in the proportion of 30 to 70 %, respectively. It was revealed that more than half of the residents have not experienced domestic violence and categorically deny spousal violence, considering it unacceptable and unacceptable. It is determined marital violence in most cases manifests itself in various forms of mental violence: withholding, verbal aggression, aggressive dominant behavior, manifested in a ban on communication with friends or girlfriends. Economic abuse manifests itself in the infringement of the opportunity to purchase clothes, food and have personal running expenses. Physical and sexual violence is less common between spouses and partners. Based on the study, it was found that marital violence is caused by subjective factors (family interaction practices, financial status, and alcohol consumption) that contribute to the reproduction and spread of abuse

THE IMPACT OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ON CHILDREN'S HEALTH AND SOCIAL WELFARE

This research aims to analyze the impact of domestic violence on children's social welfare in Kalen village, Kedungpring sub-district, Lamongan district). This type of research uses a qualitative approach with a case study method for 3 children who experienced violence in Kalen Village. Data collection techniques use observation, interviews, and documentation. The data analysis technique used is a qualitative approach with the following steps: data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion. There are three forms of violence committed by parents in the household against children: physical violence, mental violence, and social violence. Seeing the existing phenomenon, where households and families can no longer function according to their function due to cases of domestic violence, the family is no longer a safe place to shelter family members, especially their children. There are three impacts of domestic violence on children: fear, stress, and dropping out of school.

Hospital admissions for physical health and psychosocial adversity among people experiencing homelessness in England: a population-based retrospective cross-sectional study

BackgroundHomeless health care is often characterised by physical health, mental health, and substance use problems, resulting in high use of emergency care, poor outcomes, and extreme social inequities. We assessed health needs as prevention opportunities for hospitalised people experiencing homelessness (PEH) in England. MethodsThis population-based retrospective cross-sectional study used anonymised national Hospital Episodes Statistics Admitted Patient Care data. PEH were identified as having at least one homeless code (“no fixed abode”, “registered with a homeless-exclusive GP practice”, “clinical diagnosis of homelessness”) from April 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018. We analysed admissions for PEH and for housed people. We estimated the prevalence of demographic and admission characteristics and diagnoses by 10th International Classification of Disease (ICD-10) chapter. We developed novel diagnostic phenotypes for physical health (internal disease processes) and psychosocial adversity (mental health, substance use, violence, and social factors). We compared admissions between PEH and housed people using sex-stratified logistic regression adjusted for age and ethnicity. FindingsThere were 15 566 010 admissions (51 643 PEH and 15 514 367 housed people). Compared with housed people, proportionately more PEH were younger (PEH aged 26–45 years, n=24 224 [46·9%], housed people n=3 323 951 [21·4%]), male (PEH n=37 662 [72·9%], housed people n=6 819 157 [44·0%]), and not White British (PEH n=14 605 [28·3%], housed people n=3 447 183 [22·2%]). Emergency admissions were more common among PEH (PEH male n=30 958 [82·2%], housed people male n=5 321 428 [34·3%], adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 8·76, 95% CI 8·53–9·00). The most common primary diagnoses by ICD-10 chapter for PEH were mental and behavioural conditions (PEH male n=7118 admissions [18·9%], housed people male n=155 144 [1·0%], 12·97, 12·61–13·34). Admissions for the psychosocial adversity phenotype were higher in PEH, particularly for women (PEH female n=3922 [28·1%], housed people female n=155 644 [1·79%], 18·18, 17·50–18·88). Physical health phenotype admissions were less common in PEH (PEH male n=7510 [19·9%], housed people male n=1 821 397 [26·7%], 0·91, 0·89–0·94), but specific infections, cancers, respiratory, and cardiovascular diseases were more common among PEH for both men and women. InterpretationThese results support targeting of preventative interventions for PEH before, during and after admission to hospital, highlighting psychosocial needs. Future research should aim to produce reliable estimates of the size of the national homeless population to enable calculation of admission rates for psychosocial and physical health diagnoses. FundingNational Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

Adverse childhood experiences and associations with mental health, substance use, and violence perpetration among young adults in sub-Saharan Africa

BackgroundAdverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can have debilitating effects on child well-being, with consequences persisting into adulthood. Most ACE studies have been conducted in high-income countries and show a graded relationship between multiple ACE exposures and adverse health outcomes. Less is known about the types and burden of ACEs in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). ObjectiveTo estimate the pooled prevalence of six individual and cumulative ACE exposures (physical, sexual, and emotional violence; orphanhood; witnessing interparental and community violence) and assess their association with mental health outcomes, substance use, and violence perpetration among young adults in SSA. Participants and settingAggregate data from the Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) in Cote d'Ivoire 2018, Kenya 2019, Lesotho 2018, Mozambique 2019, and Namibia 2019 included a sample of 11,498 young adults aged 18–24 years. MethodsCumulative ACEs were defined by an integer count of the total number of individual ACEs (0 to 6). Weighted prevalence and adjusted odds ratios were estimated. ResultACEs prevalence ranged from 7.8 % (emotional violence) to 55.0 % (witnessing community violence). Strong graded relationships between cumulative ACE exposure and all study outcomes for both males and females were observed. Among females, witnessing interparental violence was the only individual ACE risk factor significantly associated with increased odds of substance use; among males, emotional violence was significantly associated with all outcomes. ConclusionACEs are associated with adverse mental health, substance use, and violence perpetration in SSA. Gender-specific and culturally sensitive intervention strategies are needed to effectively mitigate ACEs in this population.

Health inequalities of LGBT persons in Switzerland – Results from the first national LGBT health study

Abstract Background Internationally, there is evidence that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons (LGBT persons) have poorer health outcomes than the heterosexual or cisgender population. In addition, LGBT populations face more frequent and unique healthcare access barriers. Barriers to healthcare among LGBT persons in Switzerland remained undocumented until recently, when the Swiss Federal Council mandated a report describing the health and healthcare access of LGBT persons, and related health inequalities. Methods Two data sets were included in analyses: (1) two waves of the representative Swiss Health Survey (SHS 2012, 2017) n = 29,793, ages 16 to 74, including 858 LGB persons, and (2) data from a non-representative national online survey (May to July 2021), including 1,542 LGB cisgender and 522 transgender persons, ages 15 to 81. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (e.g. binary logistic regression), controlling for potential confounding factors (e.g. year of study, age), using the Health Equity Promotion Model as a conceptual framework. Results The most significant areas of health inequalities across the groups of interest were mental health, experienced discrimination and violence, healthcare access barriers, substance use, and sexual health. For example, LGB persons experienced significantly higher rates of depression (16.0% vs. 7.4%; p<.001) and suicide attempts (11.0% vs. 3.3%; p<.001) compared to the heterosexual population. Additionally, LGB persons abstained from seeking medical care significantly more often than heterosexual persons (16.2% vs. 6.9%, respectively) due to a lack of trust in the healthcare system. Conclusions Besides targeted action in the identified (health) areas, a Health in All Policies Approach is needed to improve the lives and health of LGBT people in Switzerland by diminishing stigmatization and discrimination, and by implementing LGBT inclusive and specific protocols in healthcare and other settings.

Вплив травми на психологічне здоров’я та насильство в Українi

During the past couple of years, Ukrainians have been experiencing major traumatic and stressful events, including the Russian annexation of Crimea and the war against Ukraine that started in 2014 and is ongoing. Moreover, in 2020, the whole world faced another disaster – the COVID-19 pandemic. Undoubtedly, such cumulative adverse events negatively influence life outcomes of this vulnerable population. Prior research has shown that pandemic and war-related stress can affect mental health and violent behaviour. However, there is a gap in the literature focusing on how various contemporary traumatic events, including war exposure and associated stressors, shape mental health and violence among Ukrainians. This study uses survey data recently collected among adults in Ukraine, which is a part of the larger project “A Cross-National Study of the Global Pandemic, Deviance and Health,” and conducts a series of regression analyses. It draws on two major theoretical perspectives in criminology and medical sociology, to examine how traumatic conditions, including exposure to war and pandemic-related stressors (contracting the virus and daily problems) influence depression and violence among Ukrainian people. First, using regression models, we found a significant relationship between reporting exposure to disasters (e.g., war, genocide) and depressive symptoms. Additionally, we found that those who experienced health stress (i.e., have contracted the virus) were more likely to report depressive symptoms. Further, Ukrainians reporting more family problems and financial issues experienced higher levels of depression. Next, we found that reporting frequent family problems and financial issues increased the likelihood of violent behaviour among Ukrainian residents. On the other hand, health stress and war exposure reports were not significantly associated with violence, which could potentially be attributed to stress reaching a ceiling effect, where Ukrainians may feel “numb” to traumatic conditions they experience routinely. Finally, we provide suggestions for future research and discuss implications for policy and practice.

Understanding ART Adherence among Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Western Kenya: A Cross-Sectional Study of Barriers and Facilitators.

HIV remains a leading cause of death for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in sub-Saharan Africa. This population has a high incidence of HIV and other comorbidities, such as experiencing violence, and low antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence. To reach global HIV goals, data are needed on the specific adherence barriers for AGYW living with HIV, so interventions can be targeted effectively. Cross-sectional data were collected at urban and rural health facilities in and around Kisumu County, western Kenya, from January to June 2022, from AGYW 15-24 years of age who were living with HIV. Surveys included questions on intimate partner violence, mental health issues, food security, and orphanhood. Adherence was categorized using viral load testing where available and the Center for Adherence Support Evaluation (CASE) adherence index otherwise. Logistic regression was used to assess associations between potential explanatory variables and adherence. In total, 309 AGYW participated. AGYW with experiences of emotional violence (Odds Ratio [OR] = 1.94, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 1.03-3.66), moderate or severe depression (OR = 3.19, 95% CI = 1.47-6.94), and/or substance use (OR = 2.71, 95% CI = 1.24-5.92) had significantly higher odds of poor adherence when compared to AGYW without these respective experiences. Physical and sexual violence, food insecurity, and orphanhood were not associated with poor adherence in this cohort. Elucidating the risk factors associated with poor adherence among AGYW living with HIV allows us to identify potential targets for future interventions to improve ART adherence and HIV care outcomes. Mental health and violence prevention interventions, including combination interventions, may prove to be promising approaches.