Browsing by Author "Somhlaba, Nceba Z"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Poverty, protests and pandemics: what can we learn from community resilience?
    (SAGE, 2021) Ahmed, Rashid; Sayed, Yusuf Mohamed; Somhlaba, Nceba Z
    The destruction of property, theft and violence that occurred in South Africa, particularly in KZN and Gauteng in the week of 12 July 2021 had a significant impact on the national psyche. As we try to come to terms with the magnitude of the consequences on the political, economic, psychological and social levels, what are the lessons that we can draw from this adversity? This commentary draws on the notion of community resilience to understand what has happened, and how it may provide markers for the future. The commentary begins with a short overview of the notion of community resilience, followed by a discussion of its utility to explain the events as well as lessons for the future.
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    Stress and coping: considering the influence of Psychological strengths on the mental health of at-risk South African adolescents
    (Taylor & Francis, 2021) Loxton, Helene; Harrison, Carmen; Somhlaba, Nceba Z
    In South Africa, many adolescents are affected by socio-economic adversity, which increases their susceptibility to experiencing stress that negatively affects their mental health. The synthesis of international literature has identified the psychological strengths (that include perceived social support, self-esteem and resilience) as having a protective effect on the mental health of at-risk adolescents who experience stress. Against this background, we argue that psychological strengths may assist South African adolescents in coping with stressors and may mediate the impact of stress on the mental health of adolescents living in conditions of socio-economic adversity. Given that this remains an under-researched area in the South African context, we also highlight the need for South African research that prioritizes the exploration of factors mitigating the experience of stress for adolescents. We also posit that such research should have significant implications for mental-health policy, practice, mental-health promotion and the prevention of mental disorders. We believe that such scholarly inquiries would be central to the intervention strategies aimed at preventing or “containing” the scourge of poverty-induced psychological distress in South African youth.
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    The direct effect of basic need services, and social support on positive mental health among institutionalized children: the mediating role of psychological capital
    (Springer, 2024) Melese, Adane K; Pedro, Athena; Somhlaba, Nceba Z
    Previous research in Ethiopia mainly contemplated studying children’s mental distress and the negative effects of orphanages. However, there is a dearth of documented evidence on how positive psychological resources, social support, basic needs services, and mental health impact the well-being of children in childcare institutions and how care centers can benefit vulnerable children. This study aimed to investigate the direct impact of perceived social support (PSS), basic need services (BNS), and Psychological Capital (PsyCap) on the mental health of children in childcare settings. Additionally, the study sought to explore the mediating role of PsyCap between PSS, BNS, and children’s positive mental health (PMH). A total of 420 institutionalized Ethiopian children, comprising 187 females and 233 males, were selected by using a stratified multistage random sampling approach. Validated and standardized measures of psychological well-being (PWB), PsyCap, BNS, and PSS were employed to collect data from the study participants. The findings from the structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that BNS and PsyCap directly and significantly predicted the PMH of children. Moreover, both BNS and PSS exhibited a positive and significant effect on the higher-order PsyCap construct. Although PSS did not directly influence positive mental health, it indirectly predicted mental health outcomes through the presence of PsyCap. Furthermore, PsyCap played a mediating role between BNS and positive mental health outcomes. It is recommended that future research replicate and expand upon the current study’s findings to gain insights into the positive mental health of institutionalized children.