The Centre for Social Sciences Research (CSSR) and the  Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa  (IDCPPA) at the University of Cape Town invite you to join us for a lunchtime seminar on 10 June 2025 at 12:45pm. The seminar will be presented by Dr. Ololade Julius Baruwa.

About the Seminar:

Association between violence, motherhood, and psychological well-being among adolescent girls and young women living with HIV in Southern African countries.

Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) living with HIV (LWHIV) in sub-Saharan Africa face overlapping vulnerabilities, including violence and motherhood, all of which may impact their mental health. However, little is known about how their intersection shapes the psychological well-being of AGWY-LWHIV.

A pooled dataset of 1,237 ACYW aged 13-24 years LWHIV across four Southern African countries, using nationally representative Violence Against Children Surveys (VACS), was analysed. Mental distress over the past 30 days was assessed using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6), with scores ≥5 indicating mental distress. Key exposures included sexual, physical, and emotional violence, and motherhood. Multivariable logistic regression models estimated odds ratios (ORs) for mental distress, adjusting for age, marital status, school enrollment, orphanhood, and rural residence.

Predicted probabilities were also explored. Our findings revealed that mental distress was significantly associated with lifetime sexual violence (OR = 2.83, 95% Cl: 1.61-4.96, p < 0.001), lifetime physical violence (OR = 1.60, 95% Cl: 1.03-2.47, p < 0.05) and lifetime emotional violence from family (OR = 2.26, 95% Cl: 1.18-4.32, p < 0.05). The predicted probabilities showed that ACYW exposed to all three forms of violence had the highest probability of mental distress (81.6%).

These findings underscore the need for trauma-informed, integrated HIV and mental health care, including violence prevention, post-violence support, and psychosocial interventions specifically tailored to ACYW LWHIV.

Speakers

Dr. Ololade Julius Baruwa is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Accelerate Hub at the Centre for Social Science Research, University of Cape Town. His research focuses on sexual and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, adolescent well-being, and violence in sub-Saharan Africa. Passionate about health and development, he supports quantitative data analysis and research dissemination. He has published in peer-reviewed journals across public health and social science fields, contributing to evidence-based policy and programmatic interventions in the region.

 10 June 2025
 12:45 - 14:00 SAST
  CSSR Seminar Room, 4.29 Robert Leslie Social Science Building, UCT

Hosted by the Centre for Social Science Research and the Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa