Browsing by Author "Atorkey, P."
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Item Cannabis and amphetamine use among school-going adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa: a multi-country analysis of prevalence and associated factors(BMC Psychiatry, 2023) Asante, K.O.; Atorkey, P.Background Global evidence indicates that early onset of illicit substance use among adolescents and emerging adults is associated with negative mental-health related-outcomes that can persist into adulthood. However, the lack of quality regional data on adolescent illicit substance use and its determinants remains a common barrier to evidence-based policy-making and the development of school-based interventions in Africa. The purpose of our study was to estimate the prevalence and describe the correlates of cannabis and amphetamine use among school going adolescents in eight sub-Saharan African countries (SSA) – Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, and Tanzania. Methods We analysed 15,553 school-going adolescents that participated in the Global School-based Student Health Survey. A two-stage sampling approach was used to generate a nationally representative sample of school children (grades 7–12) in each of these countries. Students responded to a self-administered structured questionnaire that contained information on sociodemographic factors, family involvement factors, mental health factors, school environment factors and past-month cannabis and life-time amphetamine use. Results The overall prevalence estimates of past-month cannabis use and lifetime amphetamine use among school-going adolescents in the eight SSA countries was 4.39% (95% CI=4.08, 4.72) and 3.05% (95% CI=2.79, 3.34) respectively. In the multivariable logistic regression analysis, demographic characteristics (age and male gender), mental health factors (suicide ideation and attempt), lifestyle factors (cigarette smoking, past-month alcohol use, lifetime drunkenness and leisure-time sedentary behaviour) and school level factors (truancy and bullying victimisation) showed strong associations with increased odds of both past-month cannabis use and lifetime amphetamine use. Social support at school was associated with increased odds for lifetime amphetamine, while parental monitoring decreases the odds for lifetime amphetamine use. It was also observed that parental tobacco use was associated with increased odds of both past-month cannabis use and lifetime amphetamine use. Conclusion The relatively low overall prevalence estimates of past-month cannabis use and lifetime amphetamine use among school-going adolescents in not surprising. However, the identified risk and protective factors associated with cannabis and amphetamine use underscores the need for these eight countries in SSA to develop contextual and multi-sectoral intervention and school-based prevention programmes that could target school-going adolescents who may be at risk of misusing these illicit drugs.Item Clergy‑Perpetrated Sexual Abuse in Ghana: A Media Content Analysis of Survivors, Ofenders, and Ofence Characteristics(Springer, 2021) Quarshie, E.N.; Davies, P.A.; Acharibasam, J.W.; Owiredua, C.; Atorkey, P.; Quarshie, D.A.; Quarshie, S.N.While there are no ofcial data and published studies on clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse (CPSA) from Ghana, local media reports continue to show worrying trends of the phenomenon. We drew on 73 media reports from January 2000 to March 2019, to describe the ofence characteristics and profles of the perpetrators and survi vors of CPSA in Ghana. The fndings showed females aged 10–19 as predominant survivors. The perpetrators were all males found guilty of lone rape, incest, defle ment, indecent assault, sodomy, attempted rape, or gang rape. A preventive measure could involve streamlining the recruitment, training, and leadership structures of the church.Item Clustering of multiple health risk factors among a sample of adolescents in Liberia: a latent class analysis(Springer, 2021) Atorkey, P.; Asante, K.O.Aim: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are associated with modifiable health risk factors. There is a lack of evidence regarding clusters of health-related behaviours among school-going adolescents from sub-Saharan Africa. This study was conducted to identify clustering patterns of health risk factors (i.e. smoking tobacco, inadequate fruit intake, inadequate vegetable intake, physical inactivity, sedentary behaviour, anxiety and depression) and association with sociodemographic factors among school going adolescents in Liberia. Subject and methods The 2017 Liberian Global School-based Student Health Survey on 2774 adolescents aged 11 years and above (52.5% females) sampled with a two-stage cluster sample design was used. Latent class analysis was used to generate the clusters and latent class regression assessed the associations between sociodemographic factors and the clusters. Results: We identified three clusters labelled as (1) ‘low substance use, moderately active cluster’ (34.8%); (2) ‘inadequate fruit and vegetable cluster’ (48.9%) and (3) ‘risk taking cluster’ (16.3%)’. Compared to cluster 1, adolescent boys [AOR = 1.71, 1.29– 2.27, p < 0.001], and those in grade 10–12 [AOR = 1.51, 1.13–2.02, p < 0.001] were more likely to belong to cluster 2. Participants aged 15 years and above [AOR = 0.60, 0.39–0.91, p = 0.018] were less likely to belong to cluster 2. Compared to cluster 1, adolescents aged 15 years and above [AOR = 3.58, 1.33–9.62, p = 0.011] and those with low socio-economic status [AOR = 1.83, 1.22–2.73, p = 0.003] were more likely to belong to cluster 3. Conclusion: These results underscore the need for interventions that address adolescent multiple health risk factors, especially considering socio-demographic differences.Item Suicidal Behaviors in a Nationally Representative Sample of School‑Going Adolescents Aged 12–17 Years in Eswatini(Springer, 2021) Quarshie, E.N.; Atorkey, P.; García, K.P.V.; Lomotey, S.A.; Navelle, P.L.The burgeoning body of evidence suggests that the aggregated 12-month prevalence estimates of suicidal behaviors (ideation, planning, and attempt) are relatively higher among in-school adolescents in Africa, although country-specifc data on the phenomena are still inadequate from the continent. We sought to estimate the 12-month prevalence and identify some of the correlates of suicide behaviors among school going adolescents in Eswatini. We analyzed the nationally representative data from the 2013 Eswatini World Health Organization Global School-based Student Health Survey, using univariate, bivariate, and multivariate statistical approaches. Of the 2,513 analytical samples, 17.0% (95% confdence interval [CI]: 15.4–18.4%) reported suicidal ideation, 21.0% (95% CI: 19.3–22.6%) made a suicide plan, and 15.5% (95% CI: 14.1–16.9%) attempted suicide during the previous 12 months. The final adjusted logistic models indicated health risk behavior (i.e., marijuana use), adverse interpersonal factors within the family (e.g., intrusion of privacy by parents), and school contextual factors (e.g., bullying victimization, physical fights) to be associated with increased odds of suicidal behaviors among females. However, predominantly, school-related interpersonal factors (e.g., bullying victimization, physical fights) showed strong associations with increased odds of suicidal behaviors among males. Generally, parental monitoring, parental understanding, and social support at school were associated with reduced odds of suicidal behaviors. The multi-level nature of our findings underscores the need for multi-contextual and multi-sectoral intervention and prevention programs and policy approaches targeted at mitigating the onset of suicidal ideation and possible transition to suicidal planning, attempt, and potential death by suicide in this young population.