Does work modify the relationship between violence and mental health among young people? Evidence from the Violence Against Children Surveys in Uganda, Nigeria and Colombia

Abstract

Background: Considering the well-established link between experiencing violence in childhood and poor mental health, it is important to understand the role of contextual factors in which young people live, learn, work, and play. Evidence has highlighted the importance of work as a contextual factor in the lives of young people, but it is unclear whether being in work mitigates, entrenches, or exacerbates the association between violence against children and poor mental health.

Methods: This study is based on nationally representative data of males and females aged 13-24 years who completed the Violence Against Children Surveys in Nigeria, Uganda, and Colombia. We used multivariable logistic regression models to explore the association between lifetime violence and past 30-day mental distress, and explored whether working in the past year modified this association. All analyses were age- and sex-stratified and conducted separately in each country.

Results: We found a high prevalence of lifetime violence among young people in all three countries and strong associations between violence and mental distress. In Colombia, there was strong evidence (P-value for interaction = 0.014) that work in the past year (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.42; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.07-2.57) reduced the risk of mental distress among girls who had experienced violence compared to not working in the past year (aOR = 6.12; 95% CI = 2.60-14.41). There was also evidence among boys in Nigeria (P-value for interaction = 0.045), where there was a reduction in risk of mental distress among those not in work in the past year (aOR = 0.99; 95% CI = 0.46-2.13) compared to those in work in the past year (aOR = 2.10; 95% CI = 1.32-3.33). There was also a pattern of effect modification by work in the association between childhood violence and mental health in other population groups, with variation by country, sex, and age groups.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that work can mitigate, entrench, or exacerbate risk of mental distress among young people who have experienced violence, depending on their age, sex, and country of residence. While additional research is needed to explore these mechanisms, this highlights the importance of work as a contextual factor in the lives of young people and points to the need for safe and secure workplaces and the integration of context-specific interventions into workplaces for young people.