Exploring the correlations between social support,resilience,well-being,and mental health variables among youth in border areas of Jammu and Kashmir

Abstract

Background:

The border areas of Jammu and Kashmir have long been affected by conflict, potentially impacting the mental health of youth. Understanding the relationships between social health factors and mental health outcomes in these regions is crucial for developing effective interventions.

Aim:

This study aims to investigate the correlations between social health factors (social support, resilience, and well-being) and mental health outcomes (stress, anxiety, and depression) among youth living in the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir.

Methods:

A sample of 300 individuals aged 18 to 25 years was recruited, with 150 participants from the Line of Control (LoC) border in Rajouri district and 150 from the International Border (IB) in Jammu district. Participants completed six standardized measures: the Resilience Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the WHO-5 Well-Being Index, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). Pearson Correlation was computed with statistical significance at p < .05.

Results:

Significant positive correlations were found between social support, resilience, and well-being in both IB and LoC groups. Depression was positively correlated with anxiety in both groups. However, stress was positively correlated with depression and anxiety only in the LoC group.

Conclusion:

These findings highlight the importance of social health factors in maintaining mental well-being among youth in conflict-affected regions. The study suggests that interventions targeting social support, resilience, and well-being may effectively promote mental health in these areas. Additionally, the results underscore the need for context-specific approaches in addressing mental health challenges in different conflict-affected environments.

Keywords

Mental health social support correlation youth conflict Jammu Kashmir

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Psychiatric Association (APA). (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-V) (5th ed.). Author. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596

Amin

Khan

A. W.

(2009). Life in conflict: Characteristics of depression in Kashmir. International Journal of Health Sciences, 3(2), 213–223.

Bashir

Batool

Bhatia

Shoib

Mir

N. A.

Bashir

Singh

McDonald

Hawk

M. E.

Deshpande

(2023). Community practices as coping mechanisms for mental health in Kashmir. Social Work in Mental Health, 21(4), 406–421. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332985.2022.2159779

Berkman

L. F.

Glass

Brissette

Seeman

T. E.

(2000). From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 51(6), 843–857. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0277-9536(00)00065-4

Bhat

N. A.

Devdutt

Johnson

Roopesh

N. B.

(2021). Adaptation and psychometric validation of Hindi version of the Behavioural Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 62, Article 102730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2021.102730.

Bhat

R. M.

Rangaiah

(2015). The impact of conflict exposure and social support on posttraumatic growth among the young adults in Kashmir. Cogent Psychology, 2(1), Article 1000077. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2014.1000077

Bystritsky

Kronemyer

(2014). Stress and anxiety: Counterpart elements of the stress/anxiety complex. The Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 37(4), 489–518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psc.2014.08.002

Cacioppo

J. T.

Hawkley

L. C.

(2003). Social isolation and health, with an emphasis on underlying mechanisms. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 46(3 Suppl), S39–S52.

Cohen

(1988). Perceived stress in a probability sample of the United States. In Spacapan

Oskamp

(Eds.), The social psychology of health (pp. 31–67). Sage.

10.

Cohen

Wills

T. A.

(1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98(2), 310–357. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.98.2.310

11.

Cohen

Kamarck

Mermelstein

(1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 385–396. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136404

12.

Dar

Deb

(2020). Psychological distress among young adults exposed to armed conflict in Kashmir. Children and Youth Services Review, 118, Article 105460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105460

13.

Dar

Deb

(2021). Mental health in the face of armed conflict: Experience from young adults of Kashmir. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 26(3), 287–297. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2020.1739367

14.

De Jong

van de Kam

Ford

Lokuge

Fromm

van Galen

Reilley

Kleber

. (2008). Conflict in the Indian Kashmir valley II: Psychosocial impact. Conflict and Health, 2, Article 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-1505-2-11

15.

D’Errico

Bori

de la O Campos

A. P.

(2021). Resilience and conflict: Evidence from Mali. Sustainability, 13(18), Article 10444. https://doi.org/10.3390/su131810444

16.

Diener

Chan

M. Y.

(2011). Happy people live longer: Subjective well-being contributes to health and longevity. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 3(1), 1–43. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-0854.2010.01045.x

17.

Diener

Wirtz

Biswas-Diener

Tov

Kim-Prieto

Choi

D.-w.

Oishi

(2009). New measures of well-being. In: Diener

(Eds.), Assessing well-being (Social Indicators Research Series, Vol. 39). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2354-4_12

18.

Hammen

(2005). Stress and depression. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1, 293–319. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.143938

19.

Zhang

Wang

(2015). A meta-analysis of the trait resilience and mental health. Personality and Individual Differences, 76, 18–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.11.039

20.

Hussain

Kumar

Roub

(2023). Reducing the mental health treatment gap in Kashmir: Scaling up to maximise the potential of telepsychiatry. EClinicalMedicine, 59, Article 101972. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.101972

21.

Iacoviello

B. M.

Charney

D. S.

(2014). Psychosocial facets of resilience: Implications for preventing posttrauma psychopathology, treating trauma survivors, and enhancing community resilience. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 5, Article 23970. https://doi.org/10.3402/ejpt.v5.23970

22.

Kalisch

Müller

M. B.

Tüscher

(2015). A conceptual framework for the neurobiological study of resilience. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 38, Article e92. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X1400082X

23.

Kawachi

Berkman

L. F.

(2001). Social ties and mental health. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 78(3), 458–467. https://doi.org/10.1093/jurban/78.3.458

24.

Kessler

R. C.

Berglund

Demler

Jin

Merikangas

K. R.

Walters

E. E.

(2005). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 593–602. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.62.6.593

25.

Keyes

C. L.

(2005). Mental illness and/or mental health? Investigating axioms of the complete state model of health. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73(3), 539–548. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.73.3.539

26.

Kieu

P. T.

Vuong

N. L.

Dung

D. V.

(2023). Validation of Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) in Vietnamese among people living with HIV/AIDS. AIDS and Behavior, 27(8), 2488–2496.

27.

Kishore

M. T.

Satyanarayana

Ananthanpillai

S. T.

(2018). Life events and depressive symptoms among pregnant women in India: Moderating role of resilience and social support. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 64(6), 570–577. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764018789193

28.

Kroenke

Spitzer

R. L.

Williams

J. B.

(2001). The PHQ9: Validity of a brief depression severity measure. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16(9), 606–613. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x

29.

Lamers

van Oppen

Comijs

H. C.

Smit

J. H.

Spinhoven

van Balkom

A. J.

Nolen

W. A.

Zitman

F. G.

Beekman

A. T.

Penninx

B. W.

(2011). Comorbidity patterns of anxiety and depressive disorders in a large cohort study: The Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA). The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 72(3), 341–348. https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.10m06176blu

30.

Mahajan

(2021). Militarization and mental distress in Jammu and Kashmir. In Joshi

P. C.

Mahajan

(Eds.), Recent advances in Indian medical anthropology (pp. 144–163). Concept Publishing Company.

31.

Masten

A. S.

Reed

M.-G. J.

(2002). Resilience in development. In Snyder

C. R.

Lopez

S. J.

(Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 74–88). Oxford University Press.

32.

McEwen

B. S.

(2008). Central effects of stress hormones in health and disease: Understanding the protective and damaging effects of stress and stress mediators. European Journal of Pharmacology, 583(2–3), 174–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejphar.2007.11.071

33.

Mohammed Bilal

Moawia Balla Elnour

Mohamed Elmahdi

Z. Z.

Mustafa Mudawi Ahmed

. (2024). Mental health consequences among Sudanese due to the armed conflicts and civil unrest of 2023: A cross-sectional study. The International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 70(3), 563–573. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207640231221101

34.

Monroe

S. M.

Reid

M. W.

(2009). Life stress and major depression. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18(2), 68–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01611.x

35.

Ohayon

M. M.

Schatzberg

A. F.

(2010). Social phobia and depression: Prevalence and comorbidity. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 68(3), 235–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2009.07.018

36.

Omani-Samani

Maroufizadeh

Almasi-Hashiani

Sepidarkish

Amini

(2019). The WHO-5 well-being index: A validation study in people with infertility. Iranian Journal of Public Health, 48(11), 2058.

37.

Ozbay

Johnson

D. C.

Dimoulas

Morgan

C. A.

Charney

Southwick

(2007). Social support and resilience to stress: From neurobiology to clinical practice. Psychiatry (Edgmont), 4(5), 35–40.

38.

Pandey

Saxena

Joshi

P. C.

Mahajan

(2023). Perceived stress, anxiety and depression: Living along the border in Jammu and Kashmir. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 69(6), 1532–1540. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207640231168032

39.

Pangtey

Basu

Meena

G. S.

Banerjee

(2020). Perceived stress and its epidemiological and behavioral correlates in an urban area of Delhi, India: A community-based cross-sectional study. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 42(1), 80–86. https://doi.org/10.4103/IJPSYM.IJPSYM_528_18

40.

Rapee

R. M.

Spence

S. H.

(2004). The etiology of social phobia: Empirical evidence and an initial model. Clinical Psychology Review, 24(7), 737–767. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2004.06.004

41.

Ryff

C. D.

(2014). Psychological well-being revisited: Advances in the science and practice of eudaimonia. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 83(1), 10–28. https://doi.org/10.1159/000353263

42.

Santini

Z. I.

Koyanagi

Tyrovolas

Mason

Haro

J. M.

(2015). The association between social relationships and depression: A systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 175, 53–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2014.12.049

43.

Schwarzbach

Luppa

Forstmeier

König

H. H.

Riedel-Heller

S. G.

(2014). Social relations and depression in late life-a systematic review. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 29(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.3971

44.

Seligman

M. E. P.

(2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Free Press.

45.

Sheerin

C. M.

Stratton

K. J.

Amstadter

A. B.

, The VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, Clinical Center (MIRECC) Workgroup; & McDonald, S. D. (2018). Exploring resilience models in a sample of combat-exposed military service members and veterans: A comparison and commentary. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 9(1), Article 1486121. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2018.1486121

46.

Southwick

S. M.

Sippel

Krystal

Charney

Mayes

Pietrzak

(2016). Why are some individuals more resilient than others: The role of social support. World Psychiatry, 15(1), 77–79. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20282

47.

Southwick

S. M.

Vythilingam

Charney

D. S.

(2005). The psychobiology of depression and resilience to stress: Implications for prevention and treatment. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1, 255–291. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.143948

48.

Spitzer

R. L.

Kroenke

Williams

J. B.

Löwe

(2006). A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: The GAD-7. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166(10), 1092–1097. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.166.10.1092

49.

Stén

K. D.

Soares

J. J. F.

Viitasara

Stank؛nas

Sundin

Ö.

Melchiorre

M. G.

Macassa

Barros

Lindert

Torres-Gonzalez

Ioannidi-Kapolou

. (2014). The relationship between abuse, psychosocial factors, and pain complaints among older persons in Europe. Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania), 50(1), 61–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.medici.2014.05.006

50.

Suarez

E. B.

(2013). The association between post-traumatic stress-related symptoms, resilience, current stress and past exposure to violence: A cross sectional study of the survival of Quechua women in the aftermath of the Peruvian armed conflict. Conflict and Health, 7, Article 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-1505-7-21

51.

Thoits

P. A.

(2011). Mechanisms linking social ties and support to physical and mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 52(2), 145–161. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146510395592

52.

Topp

C. W.

Østergaard

S. D.

Søndergaard

Bech

(2015). The WHO-5 well-being index: A systematic review of the literature. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 84(3), 167–176.

53.

Uchino

B. N.

(2006). Social support and health: A review of physiological processes potentially underlying links to disease outcomes. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 29(4), 377–387. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-006-9056-5

54.

Umberson

Montez

J. K.

(2010). Social relationships and health: A flashpoint for health policy. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 51(Suppl), S54–S66. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146510383501

55.

Wagnild

G. M.

Young

H. M.

(1988). Resilience Scale (RS) [Database record]. APA PsycTests. https://doi.org/10.1037/t07521-000

56.

Wagnild

G. M.

Young

H. M.

(1993). Development and psychometric evaluation of the resilience scale. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 1(2), 165–178.

57.

Wang

Mann

Lloyd-Evans

Johnson

(2018). Associations between loneliness and perceived social support and outcomes of mental health problems: A systematic review. BMC Psychiatry, 18, Article 156. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-018-1736-5

58.

World Health Organization. (1998). The world health report 1998: Life in the 21st century, a vision for all. World Health Organization.

59.

Zhang

Wang

Zhang

Wei

Jian

Guo

(2024). Relationship between social inequality perception patterns and depressive symptoms among Chinese adults: A national representative longitudinal study. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 70(5), 933–944. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207640241243280

60.

Zimet

G. D.

Dahlem

N. W.

Zimet

S. G.

Farley

G. K.

(1988). The multidimensional scale of perceived social support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52(1), 30–41. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa5201_2