Publications by authors named "Shelene Gentz"

Introduction: Divorce is a contributor to family instability within sub-Saharan Africa, and specifically within Namibia, an increasing number of children are exposed to its impact. However, not all children react uniformly to the impact of parental divorce, and many children may be resilient. Understanding what promotes resilience in children post-divorce in African contexts is vital, given the unique socio-cultural context.

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Background: Children exposed to violence are at risk of a range of adverse outcomes. Given the unique cultural and social context, understanding what fosters children's resilience in resource-limited areas such as sub-Saharan Africa, is vital.

Objectives: Using data from the International Survey of Children's Well-Being (ISCWeB), this paper explores individual-, family-, and school-level factors associated with positive outcomes for children who have experienced some form of violence in Khomas region, Namibia.

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The forced and coerced sterilisation of women living with HIV (WLHIV) is a phenomenon reported in several countries. In Namibia, litigation efforts for cases of forced and coerced sterilisation were successful, yet the psychological and socio-cultural well-being of those affected has not been adequately investigated and addressed. To determine the psychological and socio-cultural effects of involuntary sterilisation on WLHIV in Namibia, qualitative data from seven WLHIV were collected through face-to-face interviews.

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Although 12-13% of Namibians are reported to struggle with psychological distress, very few practitioners are available to provide mental health services in Namibia. Those practitioners who are available are often trained from Western counseling and psychiatric perspectives that may not readily align to beliefs about illness held constructed in Namibian cultures. Institutional effort is invested in the education and use of mental health practitioners, including counselors, social workers, nurses, psychologists, and psychiatrists.

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Unemployment is associated with depression in people living with HIV (PLWH). However, few studies have examined the effects of unemployment on PLWH with different levels of depression. The current study explores the plausible differential effects of unemployment on the different percentiles of depression in PLWH employing a quantile regression (QR) approach, based on a recent survey of 411 PLWH in China.

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The mental health needs of children and adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) in Namibia are poorly understood, despite the dramatic improvement in their survival. ALHIV in resource poor contexts face particular risk factors, such as poverty, orphanhood, and poor social support. This study examines the mental health of ALHIV in Namibia, and the factors that contribute to mental health problems.

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Background: Little research in sub-Saharan Africa has looked at factors that predict mental health problems in adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV). This study examines the psychological impact of HIV in adolescents in Namibia, including risk and protective factors associated with mental health.

Methods: Ninety-nine fully disclosed ALHIV between the ages of 12 and 18 were interviewed at a State Hospital in Windhoek.

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