Premium
South African adult caregivers as “protective shields”: Serving as a buffer between stressful neighborhood conditions and youth risk behaviors
Author(s) -
Small Latoya A.,
Parchment Tyrone M.,
Bahar Ozge Sensoy,
Osuji Hadiza L.,
Chomanczuk Aminda Heckman,
Bhana Arvin
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.22235
Subject(s) - mental health , stressor , psychological intervention , psychology , clinical psychology , medicine , psychiatry
Low‐income youths in KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa, face elevated risks to their well‐being from exposure to neighborhood conditions correlated with engaging in risky behaviors. These risks can be mitigated through adult caregivers who serve as protective shields, buffering adverse conditions. However, this protective role is dependent on the caregivers’ mental health and well‐being. This secondary analysis uses baseline data from 475 child‐caregiver dyads in an HIV‐prevention program to examine the mediating effects of caregiver mental health on the relationship between neighborhood conditions and child risk‐behaviors. Multivariate analyses identify the direct and indirect effects of neighborhood stressors and caregiver mental health on child risk‐behavior. Findings suggest that caregivers mitigate the impact of neighborhood conditions on their children, but caregivers’ mental health is directly affected by neighborhood conditions. Therefore, caregivers’ mental health and well‐being must be considered key elements in developing youth risk‐behavior interventions.