Cognitive styles and psychological functioning in rural South African school students: Understanding influences for risk and resilience in the face of chronic adversity
Corresponding Author
Melissa A. Cortina
University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7JX UK
MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Wits Education Campus, 27 St. Andrews Road, Parktown, 2193 South Africa
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Evidence Based Practice Unit (EBPU), University College London and the Anna Freud Centre, 4-8 Rodney Street, N1 9JH London, UK
Corresponding author. Present address: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Evidence Based Practice Unit (EBPU), 4-8 Rodney Street, N1 9JH, UK.Search for more papers by this authorAlan Stein
University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7JX UK
MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Wits Education Campus, 27 St. Andrews Road, Parktown, 2193 South Africa
Search for more papers by this authorKathleen Kahn
MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Wits Education Campus, 27 St. Andrews Road, Parktown, 2193 South Africa
Centre for Global Health Research, Umeå University, Umeå, 90187 Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorTintswalo Mercy Hlungwani
MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Wits Education Campus, 27 St. Andrews Road, Parktown, 2193 South Africa
Search for more papers by this authorEmily A. Holmes
MRC Cognitions and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK
Search for more papers by this authorMina Fazel
University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7JX UK
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Melissa A. Cortina
University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7JX UK
MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Wits Education Campus, 27 St. Andrews Road, Parktown, 2193 South Africa
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Evidence Based Practice Unit (EBPU), University College London and the Anna Freud Centre, 4-8 Rodney Street, N1 9JH London, UK
Corresponding author. Present address: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Evidence Based Practice Unit (EBPU), 4-8 Rodney Street, N1 9JH, UK.Search for more papers by this authorAlan Stein
University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7JX UK
MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Wits Education Campus, 27 St. Andrews Road, Parktown, 2193 South Africa
Search for more papers by this authorKathleen Kahn
MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Wits Education Campus, 27 St. Andrews Road, Parktown, 2193 South Africa
Centre for Global Health Research, Umeå University, Umeå, 90187 Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorTintswalo Mercy Hlungwani
MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Wits Education Campus, 27 St. Andrews Road, Parktown, 2193 South Africa
Search for more papers by this authorEmily A. Holmes
MRC Cognitions and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK
Search for more papers by this authorMina Fazel
University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7JX UK
Search for more papers by this authorABSTRACT
Adverse childhood experiences can show lasting effects on physical and mental health. Major questions surround how children overcome adverse circumstances to prevent negative outcomes. A key factor determining resilience is likely to be cognitive interpretation (how children interpret the world around them). The cognitive interpretations of 1025 school children aged 10–12 years in a rural, socioeconomically disadvantaged area of South Africa were examined using the Cognitive Triad Inventory for Children (CTI-C). These were examined in relation to psychological functioning and perceptions of the school environment. Those with more positive cognitive interpretations had better psychological functioning on scales of depression, anxiety, somatization and sequelae of potentially traumatic events. Children with more negative cognitions viewed the school-environment more negatively. Children living in poverty in rural South Africa experience considerable adversity and those with negative cognitions are at risk for psychological problems. Targeting children's cognitive interpretations may be a possible area for intervention.
Highlights
- Children in rural southern Africa had more negative cognitions than their counterparts in higher income countries.
- There was a relationship between positive cognitive interpretations and better psychological functioning.
- Interpretation biases, as targeted in CBT, are potentially modifiable in adolescence.
- Modifying negative cognitive interpretations could improve psychological outcomes and promote resilience in children.
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