Sabirah Adams

Nature as children's space: A systematic review

ABSTRACT The emerging interest in “spaces of childhood” over the past two decades can be identified across numerous disciplines. A substantial body of research has indicated that childrens active engagement within the natural environment is associated with a range of cognitive, physical, affective, and moral developmental benefits. Although research on childrens space and place is a burgeoning field, currently only one identified systematic review exists within the literature investigating the benefits of childrens engagement in nature. The aim of this article was thus to systematically review and synthesize the findings of childrens understandings and engagement with nature as a space. After a systematic search of the literature, 83 articles were included in this review with study samples spanning across children aged 3 to 18 years old. The review underscores four thematic domains derived utilizing thematic analysis. It is ostensible from the results that childrens perceptions of and engagement in nature as a space and place are multifarious, benefiting childrens well-being in myriad ways. At a foundational level, more research is required to deepen understandings about how children in differing contexts construct nature.

Alcohol consumption and risky sexual behaviour amongst young adults in a low-income community in Cape Town

Aims: The aim of the study was to explore alcohol use and risky sexual behaviour among young adults in a low-income community in Cape Town. Design and setting: The study followed a descriptive correlational design within a quantitative methodological framework. More specifically, a participatory research model was employed in collaboration with young people attending a secondary school in the participating community. Data collection: The street-intercept method was used to administer a structured questionnaire consisting of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and the Self-Report Risky Sexual Behaviours Scale. Findings: A key finding of this study contributes to the established body of research demonstrating a significant relationship between alcohol consumption and RSB (r = 0.48; p ≤ 0.01; N = 143). Another crucial finding of the study indicates that a substantial amount of the participants are classified as either harmful drinkers (Males = 20.0%; Females = 17.8%) or being alcohol dependent (Males = 54.3%; Females = 47.9%). Conclusions: These statistics are a typical reflection of drinking behaviour in impoverished communities in Cape Town and South Africa in general. The findings display the exigency for interventions to start at both the primary and secondary school level to counter the effects and consequences of alcohol consumption and risky sexual behaviour among young adults in this community.

Children's representations of nature using photovoice and community mapping: perspectives from South Africa

ABSTRACT The aim of the study was to explore children’s representations and perceptions of natural spaces using photovoice and community mapping. The sample consisted of 28 children aged 12–14 years residing in urban and rural communities in the Western Cape, South Africa. Data were collected by means of a series of six focus groups interviews (three photovoice discussion groups and three community mapping discussion groups). For the photovoice missions, children were provided with a 28-exposure disposable camera and given 1 week to complete their missions. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the data. Three key themes emerged, namely: safe spaces in nature, unsafe spaces in nature, and children’s favourite places in nature. Socio-economic status (SES) was found to be a determining factor in how children make sense of natural spaces. Children from low SES communities indicated being more constricted in their mobility, and were unable to access to safe natural spaces compared to the children from the middle SES community. It is recommended that an expedient starting point would be to work towards and build environmentally and child-friendly communities for children, with children as key contributors in the planning process using a child participation framework.

Children’s Recreational Engagement with Nature in South Africa: Implications for Children’s Subjective Well-Being

This chapter focuses on merging positive psychology and environmental psychology (sustainability) by exploring children’s recreational engagement with nature and the influence on their subjective well-being. The chapter details two studies conducted in the Western Cape of South Africa, in one rural and two urban communities using participatory methodologies with children. Study 1 aimed to explore how children discursively construct natural spaces and the influence on their subjective well-being using focus group interviews, while Study 2 aimed to explore children’s representations and perceptions of natural spaces using photovoice and community mapping. Four overarching findings identified from both Study 1 and 2 were the following: Children’s mobility in natural spaces: The role of socio-economic status (SES) and threats to children’s safety; Nature as children’s space and the influences on their subjective well-being; Children’s rights and access to safe natural spaces; and Researching children’s environmental views and their subjective well-being in South Africa. Although a fostering and healthy environment for children is a precondition for their well-being, this right is unfulfilled for the majority of children in the South African context. The ability to develop in a safe environment which enhances children’s well-being is unjustly distributed amongst the rich and poor, alluding to the importance of considerations of the place dimension of subjective well-being (SWB). The environmental subjective well-being of children is complemented by considerations of the environmental child rights, which foremost advocates for safer recreational environments for all children.

Factors influencing the relationship between alcohol consumption and risky sexual behaviour among young people: A systematic review

Abstract Within the literature, there is a well-established relationship between alcohol use and risky sexual behaviour. Three different but related explanations have been identified to account for the relationship, namely social, biological and individual. Although these explanations and the associated factors have been well explored in the literature, there is currently no empirical initiative that has shown how these factors interact with each other within the alcohol use and risky sexual behaviour relationship. The aim of the systematic review is to review and synthesise existing literature on the relationship between alcohol use and risky sexual behaviour among young adults (18–24 years old). Seventy-one articles were included in the review subsequent to a systematic search of the literature. The review highlighted three thematic domains relating to personality influences, social determinants and interpersonal factors, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of these factors. At a foundation level, more research is required to gain new insights, discover new ideas and/or increase knowledge of a phenomenon, i.e. factors influencing the relationship between alcohol use and risky sexual behaviour among young adults.

Alcohol consumption amongst young adults living in a low socioeconomic status community in Cape Town

Our aim was to ascertain the extent of risky alcohol consumption amongst young adults living in a low socioeconomic status community in Cape Town, South Africa. We used a cross-sectional survey design and the street intercept method to administer the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). A key finding in this study was that 54.30% of male and 47.90% of the female participants were alcohol dependent, according to the classification criteria set out in the AUDIT. Our finding necessitates further investigations into alcohol consumption amongst young adults in South Africa. In addition, researchers should endeavor not only to identify, but also to understand, the dynamics of risk and resilience factors so that this information could be used to develop intervention initiatives that could mediate young adults’ initial consumption of alcohol.