Mental health and truancy among high school students in malaysia: a comparison between ethnic minority groups

Different types of violence have been present in Mexico but there have been few studies that have analyzed their relationship with mental health in adolescents, especially in cities with high rates of social violence. It is important to compare different violence types and their relationship with mental health since not all relationships are the same. It appears that social violence has a stronger relationship with mental health, and for this reason it receives more attention, but other types of violence have a stronger relationship and do not receive as much attention. Chihuahua has been one of the most violent states in Mexico, and Juarez has been the most violent city in the world in 2009 and 2010. The purpose of the study is to compare the relationship of different types of violence (social, cyberbullying, partner violence, and child abuse and neglect) with mental health indicators (depression, anxiety, stress, self-esteem, and paranoid thoughts). There were 526 high school students, from the cities of Juarez ( n = 282) and Chihuahua ( n = 244). The mean age was 16.5 ( SD = 1.4) years and 50.6% reported being males. The relationships among the variables were analyzed using Pearson’s correlations and multiple linear regressions. Both cities that have experienced social violence like carjacking, kidnapping, and sexual assault, but they have very small or no relationships with mental health indicators. Other types of violence have stronger correlations. Our findings suggest that interventions should not focus only in preventing and dealing with social violence, but that other types of violence must also be addressed in adolescents.

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Community-centred interventions for improving public mental health among adults from ethnic minority populations in the UK: a scoping review

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-041102 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. e041102

Author(s):

Cleo Baskin ◽

Geiske Zijlstra ◽

Mike McGrath ◽

Caroline Lee ◽

Fiona Helen Duncan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Ethnic Minority ◽

Minority Groups ◽

Public Mental Health ◽

Risk Of Bias ◽

Minority Populations ◽

Ethnic Minority Groups ◽

Ethnic Minority Populations ◽

The Uk ◽

Intervention Description

ObjectivesUndertake a scoping review to determine the effectiveness of community-centred interventions designed to improve the mental health and well-being of adults from ethnic minority groups in the UK.MethodsWe searched six electronic academic databases for studies published between January 1990 and September 2019: Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, Scopus, CINAHL and Cochrane. For intervention description and data extraction we used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews checklist and Template for Intervention Description and Replication guide. Quality was assessed using Cochrane risk of bias tools. Grey literature results were deemed beyond the scope of this review due to the large number of interventions and lack of available outcomes data.ResultsOf 4501 studies, 7 met the eligibility criteria of UK-based community interventions targeting mental health in adults from ethnic minority populations: four randomised controlled trials, one pre/post-pilot study, one cross-sectional study and one ethnographic study. Interventions included therapy-style sessions, peer-support groups, educational materials, gym access and a family services programme. Common components included a focus on tackling social isolation, using lay health workers from within the community, signposting and overcoming structural barriers to access. Four studies reported a statistically significant positive effect on mental health outcomes and six were appraised as having a high risk of bias. Study populations were ethnically heterogeneous and targeted people mainly from South Asia. No studies examined interventions targeting men.ConclusionsThere is a paucity of high-quality evidence regarding community-centred interventions focused on improving public mental health among ethnic minority groups. Decision makers need scientific evidence to inform effective approaches to mitigating health disparities. Our next steps are to map promising community activities and interventions that are currently being provided to help identify emerging evidence.

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