Mental health and HIV sexual risk behaviour among University of Limpopo students

Abstract

<div class="column"><p><strong>Background. </strong><span>Little attention has been paid to the role of poor mental health among young people with regard to HIV risk behaviour and HIV prevention in Africa.<br /> </span></p><p><strong>Objective. </strong><span>To determine the association between mental health, substance use and HIV sexual risk behaviour among a sample of university students in South Africa. </span></p><p><span><strong>Methods.</strong> </span><span>A cross-sectional survey was conducted among undergraduate students who were recruited conveniently from public campus venues at the University of Limpopo Medical University of Southern Africa (Medunsa) campus. The sample included 722 university students (57.6% men and 42.4% women) with a mean age of 21.7 years (standard deviation ±8.8).<br /> </span></p><p><strong>Results. </strong><span>Of the 722 students, 39.5% reported depression, 23.4% screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 22% reported hazardous or harmful alcohol use, 33% reported ≥2 sexual partners in the past 12 months, 50% reported inconsistent condom use, 46% reported unknown HIV status of a sexual partner and 20% reported alcohol use in the context of sex in the past 3 months. In multivariate analysis, HIV risk behaviour was associated with, among men, hazardous or harmful alcohol use and having screened positive for PTSD, and among women, being in the 4th or more year of study and current cannabis use. </span></p><p><strong>Conclusion. </strong><span>Poor mental health, including substance use, was found to be associated with HIV risk behaviour. Co-ordinated mental health and sexual and reproductive health services that meet the needs of university students would be desirable. </span></p></div>

Exploring risk and protective mechanisms associated with HIV infection among adolescents in South Africa

“…In this study the theme Alcohol and illicit drug use highlighted the perceived relationship between HIV, alcohol and drugs use and included the sub-theme Alcohol use as a community norm. Substance use, including alcohol and illicit drug use, was perceived to be a major risk behaviour that adolescents engage in and this finding is supported by the results of studies reported in the litera ture (Parry et al, 2004;Pengpid et a l, 2013). Respondents illustrated this by making the following statements: "They smoke Dagga."…”

“…In South Africa, a study conducted by Nduna, Jewkes, Dunkle, Shai, and Colman (2010) found that there was an association between mental health problems, especially depression, and risky sexual behaviour such as transactional sex among females, as well as an association between transactional sex, perpetrating intimate partner violence and rape, and non-condom use among males. More recently, mental illness and mental health symptoms have been associated with risk for HIV infection in South Africa (Pengpid, Peltzer & Skaal, 2013). Youth with psychiatric disorders lack adequate sexual communication skills which are essential for safer sexual behaviour, are susceptible to negative peer norms with regards to risk taking, report low self-efficacy for condom use, and display decreased assertiveness and ability to negotiate safer sex (Flisher & Gevers, 2010).…”

Understanding HIV Risk Behaviors Among Young Men in South Africa: A Syndemic Approach

“…This finding contrasts with the majority of studies from North America that find depressive symptoms to be predictive of greater likelihood of reporting HIV risk behaviors (48,49). Among men in South Africa, the relationship between depressive symptoms and HIV risk behavior has been mixed (33,50,51). For example in a study among young men aged 15 to 26 years in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa, young men with depressive symptoms were more likely to report ever engaging in transactional sex (51).…”

“…Individuals with poor mental health conditions such as depressive symptoms may have decreased ability to discern HIV sexual risk behaviors and to take steps to avoid them. Multiple studies in South Africa, have documented associations between depressive symptoms and HIV risk behaviors (33,34). …”

Influence of self-concealed psycho-social factors as predictors on the effectiveness of sexual self-disclosure during voluntary counseling and testing among university students in Kenya

“…In addition, a large number of students live away from university premises and are, therefore, relatively not bound by the students' residential code of conduct. Such a context coupled with the young people's psychological, social and economic challenges as well as their tendency to test boundaries, may lead students to experiment with casual sexual relationships, drugs, and other risky lifestyles (Pengpid et al, 2013). The above characteristics have led some scholars to use the metaphor of the university's social context as a fertile breeding ground for the HIV virus (Asante and Oti-Boadi, 2013;Mwamwenda, 2014).…”