BMJ
Injury Prevention
,  volume 28 ,  issue 5 ,  pages 446-452

Association between violence and mental distress, self-harm and suicidal ideation and attempts among young people in Malawi

Andrés Villaveces 1, 2
, 
Shankar Viswanathan 3, 4
, 
Francisco Palomeque 2, 5
, 
Mabel Padilla 2, 6
, 
Howard Kress 1, 2
1
 
Division of Violence Prevention, NCIPC
2
 
3
 
Department of Epidemiology and Population Health
4
 
5
 
State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Task Support Force, COVID- Emergency Response
6
 
Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention
Publication type: Journal Article
Publication date: 2022-05-06
BMJ
BMJ
scimago Q2
wos Q3
SJR: 0.878
CiteScore: 5.7
Impact factor: 2.0
ISSN: 13538047, 14755785
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Abstract
Background

Mental health problems ranging from depression to more severe acts such as self-harm or suicidal behaviours are a serious problem among adolescents and young adults. Exposure to violence during the life of young people can increase mental health issues for youth. This study examines the relationship between exposure to violence and mental health issues among youth using a nationally representative study in Malawi.

Methods

We analysed data from the nationally representative Violence Against Children Survey from Malawi (2013) to quantify the association between exposures to violence (physical, sexual and emotional) and their relationship with mental distress, self-harm behaviours and suicidal ideation and attempts among youth aged 13–24 years. We evaluated the association of exposures to violence against children with reported mental health conditions among women and men. We used ordinal logistic regression models with appropriate survey weights to assess exposures to violence and the three outcomes of interest.

Results

Children and youth aged 13–24 years exposed to violence in childhood reported higher levels of adverse mental health effects, including mental distress, self-harm behaviours and suicidal ideation and attempts. The odds of reporting these outcomes increased as the number of violence types increased.

Conclusions

Understanding the risks based on different combinations of exposures to violence in Malawi can help identify populations at higher risk and optimise violence prevention strategies.

Found 
Found 

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GOST |
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GOST Copy
Villaveces A. et al. Association between violence and mental distress, self-harm and suicidal ideation and attempts among young people in Malawi // Injury Prevention. 2022. Vol. 28. No. 5. pp. 446-452.
GOST all authors (up to 50) Copy
Villaveces A., Viswanathan S., Palomeque F., Padilla M., Kress H. Association between violence and mental distress, self-harm and suicidal ideation and attempts among young people in Malawi // Injury Prevention. 2022. Vol. 28. No. 5. pp. 446-452.
RIS |
Cite this
RIS Copy
TY - JOUR
DO - 10.1136/injuryprev-2021-044510
UR - https://doi.org/10.1136/injuryprev-2021-044510
TI - Association between violence and mental distress, self-harm and suicidal ideation and attempts among young people in Malawi
T2 - Injury Prevention
AU - Villaveces, Andrés
AU - Viswanathan, Shankar
AU - Palomeque, Francisco
AU - Padilla, Mabel
AU - Kress, Howard
PY - 2022
DA - 2022/05/06
PB - BMJ
SP - 446-452
IS - 5
VL - 28
PMID - 35523567
SN - 1353-8047
SN - 1475-5785
ER -
BibTex |
Cite this
BibTex (up to 50 authors) Copy
@article{2022_Villaveces,
author = {Andrés Villaveces and Shankar Viswanathan and Francisco Palomeque and Mabel Padilla and Howard Kress},
title = {Association between violence and mental distress, self-harm and suicidal ideation and attempts among young people in Malawi},
journal = {Injury Prevention},
year = {2022},
volume = {28},
publisher = {BMJ},
month = {may},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1136/injuryprev-2021-044510},
number = {5},
pages = {446--452},
doi = {10.1136/injuryprev-2021-044510}
}
MLA
Cite this
MLA Copy
Villaveces, Andrés, et al. “Association between violence and mental distress, self-harm and suicidal ideation and attempts among young people in Malawi.” Injury Prevention, vol. 28, no. 5, May. 2022, pp. 446-452. https://doi.org/10.1136/injuryprev-2021-044510.