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A Qualitative Exploration of the Mental Health and Psychosocial Contexts of HIV-Positive Adolescents in Tanzania

Although 85% of HIV-positive adolescents reside in sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about the psychosocial and mental health factors affecting their daily well-being. Identifying these contextual variables is key to development of culturally appropriate and effective interventions for this unders...

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Autores principales: Ramaiya, Megan K., Sullivan, Kristen A., O' Donnell, Karen, Cunningham, Coleen K., Shayo, Aisa M., Mmbaga, Blandina T., Dow, Dorothy E.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5112865/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27851797
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165936
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author Ramaiya, Megan K.
Sullivan, Kristen A.
O' Donnell, Karen
Cunningham, Coleen K.
Shayo, Aisa M.
Mmbaga, Blandina T.
Dow, Dorothy E.
author_facet Ramaiya, Megan K.
Sullivan, Kristen A.
O' Donnell, Karen
Cunningham, Coleen K.
Shayo, Aisa M.
Mmbaga, Blandina T.
Dow, Dorothy E.
author_sort Ramaiya, Megan K.
collection PubMed
description Although 85% of HIV-positive adolescents reside in sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about the psychosocial and mental health factors affecting their daily well-being. Identifying these contextual variables is key to development of culturally appropriate and effective interventions for this understudied and high-risk population. The purpose of this study was to identify salient psychosocial and mental health challenges confronted by HIV-positive youth in a resource-poor Tanzanian setting. A total of 24 qualitative interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of adolescents aged 12–24 receiving outpatient HIV care at a medical center in Moshi, Tanzania. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded using thematic analysis. Psychosocial challenges identified included loss of one or more parents, chronic domestic abuse, financial stressors restricting access to medical care and education, and high levels of internalized and community stigma among peers and other social contacts. Over half of youth (56%) reported difficulties coming to terms with their HIV diagnosis and espoused related feelings of self-blame. These findings highlight the urgent need to develop culturally proficient programs aimed at helping adolescents cope with these manifold challenges. Results from this study guided the development of Sauti ya Vijana (The Voice of Youth), a 10-session group mental health intervention designed to address the psychosocial and mental health needs of HIV-positive Tanzanian youth.
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spelling pubmed-51128652016-12-08 A Qualitative Exploration of the Mental Health and Psychosocial Contexts of HIV-Positive Adolescents in Tanzania Ramaiya, Megan K. Sullivan, Kristen A. O' Donnell, Karen Cunningham, Coleen K. Shayo, Aisa M. Mmbaga, Blandina T. Dow, Dorothy E. PLoS One Research Article Although 85% of HIV-positive adolescents reside in sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about the psychosocial and mental health factors affecting their daily well-being. Identifying these contextual variables is key to development of culturally appropriate and effective interventions for this understudied and high-risk population. The purpose of this study was to identify salient psychosocial and mental health challenges confronted by HIV-positive youth in a resource-poor Tanzanian setting. A total of 24 qualitative interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of adolescents aged 12–24 receiving outpatient HIV care at a medical center in Moshi, Tanzania. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded using thematic analysis. Psychosocial challenges identified included loss of one or more parents, chronic domestic abuse, financial stressors restricting access to medical care and education, and high levels of internalized and community stigma among peers and other social contacts. Over half of youth (56%) reported difficulties coming to terms with their HIV diagnosis and espoused related feelings of self-blame. These findings highlight the urgent need to develop culturally proficient programs aimed at helping adolescents cope with these manifold challenges. Results from this study guided the development of Sauti ya Vijana (The Voice of Youth), a 10-session group mental health intervention designed to address the psychosocial and mental health needs of HIV-positive Tanzanian youth. Public Library of Science 2016-11-16 /pmc/articles/PMC5112865/ /pubmed/27851797 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165936 Text en © 2016 Ramaiya et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Ramaiya, Megan K.
Sullivan, Kristen A.
O' Donnell, Karen
Cunningham, Coleen K.
Shayo, Aisa M.
Mmbaga, Blandina T.
Dow, Dorothy E.
A Qualitative Exploration of the Mental Health and Psychosocial Contexts of HIV-Positive Adolescents in Tanzania
title A Qualitative Exploration of the Mental Health and Psychosocial Contexts of HIV-Positive Adolescents in Tanzania
title_full A Qualitative Exploration of the Mental Health and Psychosocial Contexts of HIV-Positive Adolescents in Tanzania
title_fullStr A Qualitative Exploration of the Mental Health and Psychosocial Contexts of HIV-Positive Adolescents in Tanzania
title_full_unstemmed A Qualitative Exploration of the Mental Health and Psychosocial Contexts of HIV-Positive Adolescents in Tanzania
title_short A Qualitative Exploration of the Mental Health and Psychosocial Contexts of HIV-Positive Adolescents in Tanzania
title_sort qualitative exploration of the mental health and psychosocial contexts of hiv-positive adolescents in tanzania
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5112865/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27851797
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165936
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