3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Mortality and violence in Agincourt, a rural area of South Africa(2009-11-17T12:53:28Z) Mosiane, Malerato Adelaide NthamaneViolence is a hidden problem in most communities, yet it is among the leading causes of death and non-fatal injury worldwide. It is an essential public health issue for every country and needs to be addressed as a matter of priority. While rural areas of South Africa are believed to be safer than urban areas, they are not necessarily safe per se. The main objective of this study is to examine the burden of fatal violent injuries on a rural South African community. The violent deaths data used in this report were collected through a verbal autopsy (VA) process during the period 1992 to 2000 in Agincourt, Bushbuckridge, a rural area in the north-eastern part of South Africa with a population of about 69 000 people. Person-years data for the same period, obtained from the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System (AHDSS), were used for the denominator in the computation of rates. Violence accounted for 5.9% (170/2 859) of deaths from all causes in the Agincourt area between 1992 and 2000. Of the 170 violent deaths, 68.2% were due to assault while the remaining 31.8% were suicides. The proportion of violent deaths, as proportion of deaths from all causes, is highest in the 15–19 year age group (20.9%, compared to 1.0% amongst those under the age of 15 years and 2.0% among those 60 years and older). The small number of victims in each age group results in wide confidence intervals. The violent deaths proportion, as a proportion of deaths from all causes, is higher in males (9%) than in females (2.3%). Violence levels appear to be higher among South Africans than among self-settled former Mozambicans, though the observed difference between these two populations is not statistically significant. However, a statistically significant difference is found between levels of death due to assault among migrants and permanent residents. To address this situation, violence prevention strategies and programmes need to be put in place to reduce violence. However, more research is required in order to identify more risk factors associated with violent behaviour, to study the identified risk factors, and to inform the development of these programmes.Item 'Suicide Shouldn't Be a Secret" An Assessment of Adolescent Coping Strategies following a Suicide Prevention Program(2006-11-01T09:46:03Z) Senatore, Lucia-RaffaelaThe following study aimed to assess coping strategies in adolescents following a suicide prevention program conducted by the South African Depression and Anxiety Group. The study aimed to assess whether there was a change in coping strategies in adolescents following the suicide prevention program. Suicide ideation was measured using the Positive and Negative Suicide Ideation Scale (PANSI) and Coping Strategies was measured using the Coping Across Situations Questionnaire (CASQ). Data was collected on 74 individuals in Grade 11 (26 males and 48 females). It was found that positive suicide ideation was not significantly different for males and females before the intervention, while females scored higher than males on the negative suicide ideation scale, indicating that females have more thoughts about suicide than males. There was no significant difference between positive and negative suicide ideation scores for both females and males following the suicide prevention program. The results further indicate that Active Coping; Internal Coping and Withdrawal Coping were not significantly different for boys and girls in the pretest, as well as in the post test. A negative relationship appears to exist between post PANSI negative ideation and Active Coping, which means that individuals who use more active coping have fewer thoughts about suicide. Active Coping is strongly related to Internal Coping and moderately related to Withdrawal Coping. Also, Internal coping is moderately related to Withdrawal Coping. The implications are that caregivers and professionals can begin to assess individual adolescent suicide ideation levels through an understanding of the individual’s coping strategy. Further research should be conducted in other socio-economic regions and rural and urban areas could be compared to get a holistic view of coping strategies and suicide ideation levels in South Africa, as a country.Item The Relationship between Three Religious Coping Styles and Suicidal Ideation and Positive Ideation in Young Adults(2006-11-01T08:58:26Z) Smith, Danielle Ann EliseInternationally, suicide is highly prevalent among adolescents and young adults, and South African data suggest that suicide is a serious problem that is increasingly affecting the Black population and young men in particular. This study aimed firstly to investigate the prevalence of suicidal behaviour among young adults, and, in a sample of 85 young people (aged 19-30), one in seven had previously attempted suicide, and almost one in three had recently thought about killing themselves. Sociological research has shown that religion has a predominantly protective effect with regard to suicide, however psychological research, while providing evidence for a similar relationship, has also shown that religious strain may contribute to suicidality. This study sought to establish whether a relationship exists between suicidal ideation (and positive ideation), and various indicators of religiosity. Unexpectedly, given the research trends, suicidal ideation was significantly positively associated with self-reported religious salience (r = .297, p = .006), and with the collaborative/deferring religious coping style (r = .301, p = .005), characterized by higher levels of religiosity. Suicidal ideation was significantly negatively associated with the self-directing style (r = -.331, p = .002), favoured by less religious participants. Positive ideation was unrelated to religious salience, participation, and both religious coping approaches. Various explanations were proposed for these results. Cognition is a central pathway for suicidality, and insecure religious attachment, when triggered by stressors, may set in motion a cognitive process involving negative religious attributions and harmful religious coping strategies – typical symptoms of religious strain which has been associated with suicidal behaviour. Maladaptive religious beliefs and behaviours may also have a negative impact on depression, hopelessness and helplessness, all vulnerability factors for suicidal behaviour in young people. It is also possible that, when faced by life challenges that exceed coping capacity, individuals may be more likely to turn to God, while simultaneously experiencing hopelessness, depression and suicidal ideation. Finally, the gender skew in the sample may have resulted in the high levels of suicidal behaviour and religiosity, and the positive relationship between them. Vulnerability to suicidal behaviour in young adults is a multifaceted problem, and religion, itself a multidimensional concept, is one of many factors that may provide protection against or contribute to suicidal behaviour. In order to understand the complex problem of vulnerability to suicidal behaviour in young adults, there is a need for further multivariate research.