Browsing by Author "Tesfai, Aron Hagos."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Alcohol and substance abuse among students at University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa : the protective role of psychological capital and health promoting lifestyle.
(2016) Tesfai, Aron Hagos.; Meyer-Weitz, Anna.
Alcohol and substance use prevalence has been high among youth and more alarmingly high among university students globally. The South African university students are not different from other students around the globe. Alcohol in particularly is a widely used psychoactive substance with dependence properties. Alcohol and other substance use and abuse are associated with serious physical and psychological consequences. It is therefore important to explore possible protective factors that may decrease the likelihood of substances use behaviours with detrimental consequence on the health and well-being of students. This study therefore aims to investigate the prevalence of substance use and abuse, the association between demographic and the likely protective role of psychological capital and the engagement in a health promoting lifestyle against substance use to gain a better understanding of the severity of substance use among students and possible substance use interventions for students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa. The study utilized a cross-sectional survey design and collected data from a convenient sample of 515 students. The survey questionnaire included demographic, Psychological Capital (PsyCap), Health Promotion Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP II) and Alcohol, Smoking and Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) measurements. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 22) is used to analyse the data. Frequency and descriptive statistics were used to describe and understand prevalence of alcohol and substance use. Associations between variables were explored using Pearson’s and Spearman’s rho correlation coefficients, chi-square, independent sample t-test and ANOVA tests were used to assess difference among demographic groups and the measures while step wise logistic regression models were fitted to determine the best predictors of risky alcohol use and smoking behaviors. The study found that alcohol, smoking and cannabis use were as the most common substances used. Even though the life time alcohol usage (68%) and usage within the past three months (57%) was high, 17.5% of the students were found to be engaged on hazardous alcohol drinking. Male students were more at risk for risky substance use, and significantly different on smoking and cannabis use from female students. White and Coloured students were also found to be risky alcohol and smoking users. Association were found between most of the substances used. The students’ general Psychological capital (PsyCap) was high, but scores were low in self-efficacy. Male students’ PsyCap was significantly higher than of female students. The students’ participation in health promoting lifestyle was poor with lowest in physical activity, nutrition, health responsibility and stress management. There was a significant association between the PsyCap and HPLS. The result of Spearman rho’s showed significant and negative association between male students’ alcohol and smoking use in terms of PyCap and HPLS. Males and lower levels of resilience were found to be best predictors of risky alcohol use, White and Coloured race students and having poor HPLS were predictors for smoking. The study concluded that students should be made aware of the negative consequences of substance on their health and wellbeing and interventions need to be directed at enhancing resilience and engagement in more health promoting lifestyles through supportive environments and skills building opportunities. Limitation of the study pertain to convenient sampling and the inability to generalise the findings to all students at UKZN and therefore further studies could use representative samples to generalise, and qualitative studies to deepen the understanding of PsyCap and HPLS as protective factors against alcohol and substance use.
Exploring migration experiences and mental health among refugees and asylum-seekers in Durban, South Africa: guidelines for mental health promotion interventions.
(2020) Tesfai, Aron Hagos.; Meyer-Weitz, Anna.
Background: Refugees and asylum seekers flee war, state violence, persecution and economic hardships. They tend to be very poor, vulnerable and are often excluded from the health and socio-economic activities of the hosting communities. In these contexts, refugees and asylum-seekers are found to be among high-risk groups for mental health problems, especially those that resettle in Low-and-Middle Income Countries. Further, mental health issues of refugees are worsening in light of the sustained conflict and forced migration the world is witnessing. For a long time now, the need for mental health promotion among refugees has been a public health concern. However, it seems there has been limited research undertaken in Africa, particularly in South Africa regarding the migration experiences and mental health of refugees. This study therefore aimed to explore refugees’ and asylum-seekers’ migration experiences particularly the stressors, psychological problems and coping strategies at pre-, transit-, and post-migration stages. Understanding migration experiences provides an essential background for developing mental health intervention guidelines to promote psychological wellbeing among refugees. Methodology: The study utilised a sequential exploratory mixed-method strategy that allows first qualitative data collection and analysis followed by a second phase of quantitative data collection and analysis that builds on the results of the first qualitative phase. The main purpose of utilising this design was to initially explore the migration experiences of refugees and to understand their explanations and descriptions of migration and mental health experiences qualitatively. Then the quantitative phase aimed at expanding the initial qualitative results using a much larger sample. Based on a descriptive phenomenological method, qualitative data was collected from 14 purposefully selected participants using face-to-face interviews. The data was analysed using the five steps phenomenological descriptive analysis. A cross-sectional survey was utilised to collect data from 195 conveniently sampled respondents. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data and it included demographic questions and the following measures: Refugees Stress Scale (RSS), Post- Migration Living Difficulties Questionnaire (PMLD), Refugees’ Defenceless Scale (RDS), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RS), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ - 28) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist - civilian version (PCL -5). The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS version 25). Techniques of exploratory factor analysis, independent samples t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson- moment correlation coefficient and regression models were used to analyse the quantitative data. Results: The qualitative results revealed that throughout migration refugees have experienced life-threatening events and gross violation of human rights emanating from state-organized-violence, conflict and xenophobic violence or criminal attacks. Further, refugees also suffered from economic hardships mostly due to lack of employment opportunities, not knowing where they were going, travelling alone, lack of basic necessities, persecution and lack of security. As a result, their mental health experiences attest emotional and psychological distress resulting from the immediate stressors and lingering migration stressors. The participants described experiencing symptoms of PTSD, anxiety and depression throughout the migration process and beyond. The psychological distress of refugees who fled recently and experienced traumatic events have been further stressed by the lack of basic necessities in South Africa, is notably worrisome. Refugees were dealing with very negative experiences using different coping mechanisms, mainly, faith and religiosity, escaping danger, using hopeful thoughts and relying on some social support. The quantitative results revealed threats to life, forced separation from family, not having a clear vision about ones’ future, limited freedom and police or military follow-ups or beating as most common pre-migration stressors. The post-migration stressors are mainly insecurity and vulnerability that includes xenophobic threats, lack of job opportunity/ unemployment, worries about their children, discrimination, separation from family, unable to return to their original home in an emergency time and fear of repatriation. Regarding psychological distress, anxiety and insomnia are found as the most prevalent symptoms of distress, followed by social dysfunction, somatic complaints and depression. About one third of the participants are experiencing major symptoms of PTSD. Conclusion: The prevalence of psychological distress is relatively lower in this study when compared to other studies among African refugees, however, refugees who fled recently from traumatic experiences are found to be notably stressed with major PTSD symptoms. Further, lack of basic needs, minimal financial income and insecurity are found to be determinants of mental health of refugees. Mental health promotion interventions for refugees should consider their primary needs, health inclusive of mental health screening at entry and to follow-up by addressing their psychological problems through both individual and community-based psychosocial interventions to enable refugees to take better control of their health and wellbeing within an supportive and enabling environment.