title: Cognitive styles and psychological functioning in rural South African school students: Understanding influences for risk and resilience in the face of chronic adversity.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 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, UK. Electronic address: melissa.cortina@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Melissa A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Cortina
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kahn
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Tintswalo Mercy
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Hlungwani
authors.affiliation: MRC Cognitions and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Emily A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.affiliation: University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK.
authors.forename: Mina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fazel
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition; D000066498:Emotional Adjustment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013019:South Africa; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Cognitive style; Low and middle-income country; Psychological functioning; Resilience; School