Assessing the Mental Health of Girls in Nepal: A Study of the Impact of Societal Factors on Former Child Soldiers Conscripted into Nepal's Maoist Movement and Non-Conscripted Children Öffentlichkeit
Kamrudin, Afshan (2011)
Published
Abstract
The present study was developed to assess the mental health of
young adolescent
girls in Nepal with special consideration towards young girls that
were conscripted into the
Maoist Army during the 10-year civil war between the Royal Nepalese
Army (RNA) and the
Maoist movement from 1996-2006. Utilizing a combined model, which
incorporates the
Theory of Gender and Power, the Social Ecological Model, and
Cultural Consonance, we
hope to add insight to a complex phenomenon in this population.
Using multiple theories to
outline the study of mental health and society, the aim is to gain
a deeper understanding of
how external factors influence individual mental health as well as
provide areas for future
research among this population. This study was conducted using a
cross-sectional
correlational design. Using variables related to theoretical
constructs, univariate statistics,
bivariate statistics, and regressions were utilized to test
relevant hypotheses. Independent
t-tests comparing mental health outcomes based on conscription
status revealed that
former child soldiers experienced significantly more functional
impairment, depression,
and anxiety. Regressions testing variables based on constructs of
the Theory of Gender and
Power, including the Sexual Division of Labor and Sexual Division
of Power were used to
explain how mental health is influenced by societal factors. The
Social Ecological Model was
used to categorize variables and their relationship to the
participants and understand the
influence of aggregate social groups on mental health. Mental
health outcomes in this study
were then classified as the Structure of Cathexis. All three
regression models predicting
each individual mental health outcome were found to be significant.
This study is limited in
the capacity to make causal inferences and generalize to a larger
population.
Recommendations include considering social determinants when
assessing mental health
and considering the implications it has for future studies,
especially with respect to the role
of women involved in political movements and their overall mental
health.
Table of Contents
2
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
....................................................................................................................................................1
DEFINITION OF THE
PROBLEM................................................................................................................................................1
JUSTIFICATION OF THE
PROBLEM...........................................................................................................................................4
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS
.................................................................................................................................................7
Cultural
Consonance.........................................................................................................................................................10
Gender and
Power..............................................................................................................................................................11
FORMAL STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
....................................................................................................................................14
LITERATURE REVIEW
......................................................................................................................................
15
WOMEN IN
NEPAL..................................................................................................................................................................15
YOUTH SOLDIERING AND
FEMALES.....................................................................................................................................16
APPLICATIONS OF THEORY IN ASSESSING MENTAL
HEALTH.........................................................................................23
SOCIAL CONSIDERATIONS TO CONSCRIPTION AND MENTAL HEALTH
.........................................................................28
CASTE/RELIGION....................................................................................................................................................................29
GENDER
....................................................................................................................................................................................30
FUNCTIONAL
IMPAIRMENT...................................................................................................................................................31
DEPRESSION
............................................................................................................................................................................32
ANXIETY
...................................................................................................................................................................................33
FEMALES AND
COMORBIDITY...............................................................................................................................................34
HEALTH STATUS, SOMATIZATION, AND ITS RELATION TO MENTAL HEALTH
............................................................35
STUDY
AIM...............................................................................................................................................................................37
HYPOTHESES
...........................................................................................................................................................................38
3
METHODS.............................................................................................................................................................
39
PARTICIPANTS.........................................................................................................................................................................39
MEASURES................................................................................................................................................................................40
Demographics
Questionnaire........................................................................................................................................40
Screen for Child Anxiety Related and Emotional Disorders
(SCARED--5)
..................................................40
The Birleson Depression Self--Rating Scale
(DSRS)..............................................................................................41
Functional
Impairment....................................................................................................................................................42
DESIGN AND
PROCEDURE......................................................................................................................................................42
DATA ANALYSIS
......................................................................................................................................................................43
RESULTS
...............................................................................................................................................................
44
DEMOGRAPHICS
......................................................................................................................................................................44
CORRELATIONS
.......................................................................................................................................................................46
T-TEST...........................................................................................................................................................................46
REGRESSIONS
..........................................................................................................................................................................47
DISCUSSION.........................................................................................................................................................
50
FILLING IN THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK WITH DATA
.............................................................................................50
SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS
...................................................................................................................................................55
LIMITATIONS
...........................................................................................................................................................................57
PUBLIC HEALTH
IMPLICATIONS...........................................................................................................................................58
About this Master's Thesis
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