COVID-19 Stress, Religious Affiliation, and Mental Health Outcomes Among Adolescents

Impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of adolescents and youth in Nairobi, Kenya

Objective

To report on the mental health status of adolescents and youth in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nairobi County, Kenya.

Methodology

This was a mixed-methods study with cross-sectional quantitative and qualitative components conducted in Nairobi County, Kenya from August to September 2020. The quantitative survey involved phone interviews of n = 1,217 adolescents and youth. Qualitative components included virtual focus group discussions (FGDs) with adolescents and youth (n = 64 unmarried youths aged 16-25 years, across 8 FGDs) and youth-serving stakeholders (n = 34, across 4 FGDs), key informant interviews (n = 12 higher-level stakeholders from Ministries of Health, Gender, and Education), and in-depth interviews with youth (n = 20) so as to examine the COVID-19 impact on mental health.

Results

Among the participants, 26.6% of young men and 30.0% of young women reported probable depressive symptoms, of whom 37.7% of young men and 38.9% of young women reported little interest or pleasure in doing various activities. Hopelessness and feeling down nearly every day was additionally reported by 10.7% of young women and 6.3% of young men. Further, about 8.8% of young men and 7.6% of young women reported they could not get the emotional help and support they may need from people in their life. Multivariable regression results showed an association between depressive symptoms and reduced working hours due to COVID-19 and increased intimate partner violence. Additionally, the results show that respondents with higher emotional help and support were less likely to report depressive symptoms. Qualitative results confirm the quantitative findings and exemplify the negative behavior arising from the impact of adherence to COVID-19 prevention measures.

Conclusion

Mental health issues were common among adolescents and youth and may have been augmented by isolation and economic hardships brought about by COVID-19 restrictions. There is a need for concerted efforts to support adolescents and young people to meet their mental health needs, while considering the unique variations by gender. There is need to urgently strengthen the mental health system in Kenya, including via integrating psychosocial support services in communities, schools, and healthcare services, to ensure adolescents and young persons are not left behind.

Mental health at religious and non-religious universities: Examining the role of student religiousness and sexual/gender minority identity

BACKGROUND

Religiousness is often related to positive mental health for university students. Yet this may not hold for sexual and gender minority (SGM) students at religious universities. Some studies find religiousness protective for SGM students, some find no relationship, and some find religiousness a risk.

METHODS

Using the Healthy Minds data (n = 135,344) student mental health (suicide ideation and anxiety) was compared across religious universities (Catholic, evangelical, and "Other Christian") and nonreligious universities, examining moderation by student religiousness and SGM identity.

RESULTS

Overall, there were no anxiety or ideation differences across religious and nonreligious universities except that students at "Other Christian" universities had slightly higher ideation than those at nonreligious universities. However, moderation analysis found SGMs at nonreligious universities at higher risk for anxiety compared to those at "Other Christian" universities. Student religious importance predicted lower ideation and anxiety across universities: though students for whom religion was unimportant were at greater risk for anxiety at nonreligious versus Catholic universities. Compared to SGMs at nonreligious universities, SGMs at evangelical universities who did not participate in extracurricular religious activities were at risk for ideation, but risk was low for SGMs who did participate.

LIMITATIONS

Data were cross-sectional. Analyses were unable to control for whether students dropped out of a university.

CONCLUSIONS

There were few overall differences between religious and nonreligious universities. Though moderation found attending a religious university either a protective or risk factor for some groups. The relations between being SGM and mental health should be considered concert with religiousness.

Unleashing the link between the relaxation of the COVID-19 control policy and residents' mental health in China: the mediating role of family tourism consumption

Objective

COVID-19 has negatively influenced industrial development, family consumption, and residents' mental health. Unfortunately, it has not yet been studied whether this adverse situation can be alleviated after the relaxation of the COVID-19 control policy (RCC). Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the effect of the RCC on the resident's mental health and the mediating effect of family tourism consumption.

Methods

By using the PSM and mediating effetc model to research the panel data of two periods (April 2021 and April 2023) for Shaanxi province, China.

Results

The RCC negatively inhibited the mental health severity of residents, and the mental health severity decreased by 0.602. In particular, the RCC showed the most substantial negative effect on residents' stress, followed by anxiety and depression. Meanwhile, it is found that the impact of the RCC on the mental health of residents is highly heterogeneous. The RCC indicates a linear significant effect on the mental health of residents under 60 years of age, while the results were found insignificant for residents above 60 years of age. Meanwhile, the RCC's improvement effect on urban residents' mental health is greater than that of rural residents. In addition, mechanism analysis showed that tourism consumption plays a mediating role in the influence of the RCC on the mental health of residents, and the mediating effect accounted for 24.58% of the total effect.

Conclusion

Based on the findings, the study proposes that government and policymakers should strengthen mental health intervention, improve access to mental health counseling, stimulate economic development, expand the employment of residents, and track the mutation of the novel coronavirus.