The influence of depressive symptoms and school-going status on risky behaviors: a pooled analysis among adolescents in six sub-Saharan African countries.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) regarding risky behaviors among adolescents remains scarce, despite the large population (approximately 249 million out of 1.2 billion globally in 2019) of adolescents in the region. We aimed to examine the potential influence of depressive symptoms and school-going status on risky behaviors among adolescents in six SSA countries.

Methods

We used individual cross-sectional data from adolescents aged 10-19 based in eight communities across six SSA countries, participating in the ARISE Network Adolescent Health Study (N = 7,661). Outcomes of interest were cigarette or tobacco use, alcohol use, other substance use, getting into a physical fight, no condom use during last sexual intercourse, and suicidal behavior. We exami

SUBMITTER: Partap U 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10406520 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature