South African child report of caregiver attunement as a mechanism to decrease engagement in risky sexual situations and depression

ABSTRACT

Research regarding South African caregivers’ protective parenting behaviors that can improve youth well-being in early adolescence is limited. Therefore, this study explored the affective and protective aspects of adult caregiving that influence mental health and possible engagement in sexual situations among Black South African early adolescents. Structural Equation Modeling was employed using baseline data from 577 youth to examine caregiver communication’s mediating effect on the relationship between child-report of caregiver attunement, child depressive symptoms, and possible engagement in sexual situations. The findings suggested that Black South African caregivers can provide a protective role in reducing the risk of engagement in sexual situations while improving child mental health. Therefore, caregiver communication and attunement are vital mechanisms that build family resilience and child well-being.

KEYWORDS:

• Attunement
• communication
• parenting
• early adolescents
• depression
• sexual situations

Acknowledgments

The authors of this paper are grateful to South African researchers and the CHAMPSA (Collaborative HIV Prevention and Adolescent Mental Health Program) advisory board team, who helped in the data collection and study design, thus making it possible for us to add on to scientific knowledge. The authors also want to thank Shu-Fy Pongnon for her assistance in editing various iterations of this manuscript.

Author contributions

Conceptualized and designed the study: Tyrone M. Parchment

Performing statistical analyses and computations: Tyrone M. Parchment

Writing: Tyrone M. Parchment and Latoya A. Small

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Data collection was sponsored by The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, one of the National Institutes of Health in the United States Department of Health and Human Services; principal investigator: Carl Bell, Grant/Award Number: R01 MH55701.

Notes on contributors

Tyrone M. Parchment

Tyrone M. Parchment is an assistant professor with a research focus on family behavioral health, emphasizing male caregiving/fathers among racially and ethnically marginalized communities in the United States and internationally.

Latoya A. Small

Latoya A. Small is an assistant professor with a research focus on health disparities, specifically as they intersect with mental health, treatment adherence, and HIV among women and children in the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa.