Psychological wellbeing of children at public primary schools in Jimma town: An orphan and non-orphan comparative study

Global research trends on psychological well‑being of children in foster care homes from 2003 to 2023: a bibliometric analysis using Scopus database

Purpose

The study focuses on contemporary trends in the psychological well‑being of foster children residing in care homes over the past two decades. Moreover, it aims to predict future research directions by analyzing hotspots, offering valuable references for academics engaged in further studies in this field.

Methods

A quantitative analysis was conducted on nine hundred and twelve documents, including research papers and reviews, from 2003 to 2023. These publications focused on the psychological well‑being of foster children and were incorporated from the Scopus database. For visual analysis, we utilized the bibliometric analytical tool VOSviewer to generate a map of information on the authors, journals, organizations, nations, citations, and keywords. We also employed Microsoft Excel tables to record the essential details.

Results

The psychological well‑being of children and adolescents residing in foster homes is an emerging area of research. The findings show that there has been an ongoing rise in relevant research publications over time. The United States (416) and Harvard Medical School (56) were the most active countries and organizations in this study. AIDS Care: Psychological and Socio-Medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV (91 articles) and Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies (86 articles) are two prominent journals, while the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry had the most co-citations (630). Nelson (52 publications) and Zeanah (50 publications) are the top two leading authors based on citation counts. Institutional care, orphans, HIV/AIDS orphans, psychological well‑being, and mental health, resilience are popular research keywords in this study.

Conclusion

This study indicates the prevailing interest in the specified domains over the past two decades. Our findings primarily indicate that addressing mental health concerns, along with understanding the needs of children in foster care homes, can enhance their psychological well‑being. Developing effective interventions to enhance the psychological well‑being of children in foster care is bound to have a profound effect on them and will serve as a key focus for future research in this field.

Risk and protective factors for mental health and wellbeing among adolescent orphans

Background

Research has demonstrated the importance of understanding risk factors for mental health and wellbeing. Less research has focused on protective factors that protect mental health and promote wellbeing in diverse contexts. Estimating structural paths from risk protective factors to psychopathology and wellbeing can inform prioritization of targeted investment in adolescent health programs that seek to modify factors that are most closely associated with mental wellbeing.

Study objective

The purpose of this study was to examine risk factors (e.g. emotional neglect, emotional abuse, physical neglect, stigma) and protective factors (e.g. community relationships, self-esteem, and autonomy) among adolescent orphans, protective associations with depression, anxiety and externalizing behaviors and promotive associations with hope, happiness, and health.

Methods

The analytic sample was collected between January and March of 2019 and included 350 adolescent orphans ages 10-15 from three districts in Tanzania. Participants completed survey interviews, 75-90 min in length, that measured risk and protective factors, psychological symptoms, and mental wellbeing measures.

Results

Results of the fitted structural equation model indicated that structural paths from protective factors to psychopathology (β = -0.53, p = 0.015) and mental wellbeing (β = 0.72, p = 0.014) outcomes were significant. Structural paths from risk factors to psychopathology (β = -0.34, p = 0.108) and mental wellbeing (β = -0.24, p = 0.405) were not significant.

Conclusion

In a sample of vulnerable youth, protective factors (e.g. community relationships, self-esteem, and autonomy) were significantly associated with reduced depression, anxiety and externalizing behaviors and increased hope, happiness, and health in a structural equation model that included risk factors (emotional neglect, emotional abuse, physical neglect). Results suggest that strong community relationships, self-esteem and autonomy may be important modifiable factors to target in intervention programs aimed at supporting adolescent mental wellbeing.

Clinical and Pathological Manifestation of the Oral Mucosa in Institutionalized Children from Romania

Institutionalized children, regardless of their age, are prone to psychiatric disorders, compared to those who live in two-parent families, due to the unfavorable physical and psychological conditions in which they develop. Unpropitious psychological conditions affect the child's general health and induce local manifestations that can be found in the oral cavity, affecting both soft tissues and teeth. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to assess and diagnose a series of pathological manifestations of the oral mucosa associated with poor living conditions or closely related to psychological stress. The clinical examination was performed by 4 specialist dentists, who consulted 150 children representing the study group and 52 children representing the control group, all having ages between 14 and 18 years old and meeting the same inclusion criteria. From the control group, 62.5% presented plaque-induced gingivitis (26.6% girls, 35.8% boys), 26.6% presented mucosal lesions produced by lip and cheek biting (23.3% girls, 35.8% boys), and 11.7% presented geographic tongue (6.6% girls, 5% boys), herpes simplex eruptions (3.3% girls, 4.2% boys) and oral ulcerations (12.5% girls, 10.8% boys). Morsicatio buccarul is a chronic, self-mutilating habit, currently becoming one of the most common tics encountered among institutionalized children. Furthermore, these children do not benefit from constant support and guidance to perform their dental hygiene, so the incidence of gingivitis induced by bacterial plaque and calculus is very high.

Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change and Impacts on Household Income and Food Security: Evidence from Sahelian Region of Niger

Sahelian countries, particularly Niger, are more vulnerable to climate change due to the high dependence of most of their populations on rain-fed agriculture and limited capacities to respond to climate variability and change. This paper examines the factors influencing climate change adaptation strategies and the impacts on household income and food security in rural Niger. For this purpose, we collected data from 1783 valid rural households in four main agricultural regions of Niger. The results showed that crop diversification (72.74%), income diversification (67.97%) and changing planting times (55%) are the main adaptation strategies adopted by households. The majority of respondents had noticed changes in rain patterns (93.21%), in the amount of rain (91.25%) and in the intensity of rain (81.82%) during the last five years. We categorized these adaptation strategies into six major groups namely climate-resilient crop varieties, improved agronomic practices, irrigation and water conservation practices, crop diversification, income diversification, and agroforestry. We ran logit regression to identify the determinants of each individual group. The results show mixed effects of independent variables on these categories of adaptation strategies. Using matching techniques, we found adaptation strategies have positive and significant impact on both household income and food security. The farmers who adopt climate change adaptation strategies are more likely to increase household income by 7721.526 FCFA compared to those households with zero adaptation strategies. Similarly, the adapters have 7% to 9% more chance to be food secure compared to those who did not adopt strategies. These results suggest that strengthening the awareness of the effects of climate change on farmers and the choice of appropriate adaptation strategies are necessary to enhance household resilience. Strengthening institutional factors such as access to credit and market, extension services, and using drought-resilient crop varieties would surely improve agricultural production.

The Correlation between Oral Self-Harm and Ethnicity in Institutionalized Children

Oral self-harm was described in institutionalized children who share a lack of emotional attention; frequently these children experience feelings such as neglect, loneliness, isolation or lack of connection with the world. The aim of our paper was to conduct a cross-sectional study in order to assess the prevalence of this behavior and its correlation with ethnicity among children from three institutions located in the central part of Romania. We examined 116 children from three ethnic groups, Romanians, Hungarians and local Roma population aged between 10–14 years old. The oral soft tissues were evaluated by one dentist who recorded the lesions of lips, buccal mucosa, commissures and tongue; data were statistically analyzed at a level of significance of p < 0.05. We found oral self-harm lesions in 18.1% participants, with statistically significant higher odds in girls (p = 0.03). The results showed an association between ethnicity and the development of these lesions (Chi-square p = 0.04). The most frequent lesions were located at oral commissures (35.48%), buccal mucosa (29.03%) and upper lip (19.36%). Oral self-harm lesions have a high incidence among institutionalized children in Romania. Identification of these cases in early stages is important, as these conditions are known to be aggravated during adolescence and adulthood.