The prevalence, contexts, and impact of children's exposure to domestic violence in Jamaica

This study explored the prevalence of children’s exposure to adult perpetrated domestic violence (DV) in Jamaica and investigated the contextual factors of the affected families and the wellbeing of exposed children. The study was a cross-sectional survey of 7,182 children aged 9 to 17 years, drawn from 20 primary and secondary schools. The sample consisted of 60.8% of girls with 69% living in rural communities. The surveys were completed in classroom settings. The questions from the IPSCAN Child Abuse Screening Tool (ICAST-C; Runyan et al., 2015) were used to assess respondents’ lifetime experience of witnessing three forms of adult-perpetrated DV; shouting and screaming that frightened the child, physical violence (e.g., hitting, slapping), and serious violent threat (e.g., the use of weapons to threaten or harm). Findings indicated that 41.6% of the children had been exposed to at least one type of DV (22.5% had experienced one, 11.8% had experienced two and 7.3% had experienced three forms of violence). There was a statistically significant difference in the children’s sense of safety in their homes depending on whether they had been exposed to DV. Those exposed to DV had a lower sense of safety than those not exposed and the more forms of DV experienced the lower their sense of safety. Of those not exposed, 85.8% reported always feeling safe at home compared with 37.2% of those exposed to three forms of DV. Study limitations and implications of the findings are discussed.</p

Child abuse and neglect and associated mental health outcomes: A large, population-based survey among children and adolescents from Jamaica and Uganda

Purpose: Few studies assess how CAN affects adolescents’ mental health. Further, the majority of studies conducted to date discount the individual CAN items and report overall prevalence rates for different types of abuse and neglect. The purpose of this study was to examine the levels of and gender differences in CAN subtypes, lifetime prevalence of individual CAN items, and the contribution of different CAN subtypes for explaining depression, anxiety, and irritability. Design/methodology/approach: The sample included Jamaican (n = 7,182, 60.8% female) and Ugandan (n = 11,518, 52.4% female) youths. We used a population-based cross-sectional study design. Youths completed an anonymous survey in school settings. Findings: We found gender differences in the levels of CAN subtypes. Maltreatment behaviors of lesser severity were more commonly endorsed by the youths than those of greater severity. Neglect and emotional abuse were the strongest correlates of depression (e.g., neglect: β = .23, among Jamaican youths emotional abuse outside-the-home: β = .23, among Ugandan girls), anxiety (e.g., neglect: β = .17, among Ugandan girls; emotional abuse outside-the-home: β = .27, among Ugandan girls), and irritability (e.g., emotional abuse in-the-home: β = .17, among Jamaican boys; emotional abuse outside-the-home: β = .17, among Ugandan girls) in most samples. Originality/value: These findings will inform policy makers and professionals working with youths in Jamaica and Uganda, providing comprehensive contemporary insights beyond existing research in these regions.</p

Prevalence and correlates of non-suicidal self-injury, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempt among children and adolescents: Findings from Uganda and Jamaica

Background: Youth non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide are major public health concerns, but limited data are available on the prevalence and correlates of these problems in developing countries. The aim of this study is to describe experiences of three suicidal phenomena (NSSI, suicidal ideation [SI], and suicide attempt [SA]) among children and adolescents from two developing countries. We also examine how depression, anxiety, sleep problems, child maltreatment, and other socio-demographic variables associate with the risk of NSSI only, SI only, SA only, and co-occurring NSSI/SI/SA. Methods: We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study of school-based Ugandan and Jamaican children and adolescents. Participants were 11,518 (52.4% female) Ugandan and 7,182 (60.8% female) Jamaican youths aged 9-17 years. Results: The estimated lifetime prevalence of NSSI, SI, and SA was 25.5%, 25.6%, and 12.8% respectively among Ugandan boys and 23.2%, 32.5%, and 15.3% respectively among Ugandan girls. As for the Jamaican sample, the estimated lifetime prevalence of NSSI, SI, and SA was 21%, 27.7%, and 11.9% respectively among boys and 32.6%, 48.6%, and 24.7% respectively among girls. The odds of experiencing SI only, SA only, and co-occurring NSSI/SI/SA were significantly elevated among participants with mild, moderate, and severe depression in both countries. Limitations: The current study relied on retrospective data. Conclusions: This study found that suicidal phenomena are common among youths from Uganda and Jamaica, with rates substantially higher than among youths from high-income countries. The risk of suicidal phenomena was especially high among youths with severe depression