Emmanuel Nii-Boye Quarshie

University of Ghana | Legon · Department of Psychology

This study explored the views of judges and lawyers of the superior courts of Ghana on the law criminalizing attempted suicide. Qualitative data were collected from 12 experienced legal practitioners of the superior courts (five judges and seven lawyers) using a semi-structured interview schedule. Thematic analysis of the data yielded three main pe...

Suicide is recognised as the third leading cause of death among adolescents globally. There is however limited data on the prevalence and factors associated with suicide particularly in Ghana. To explore the prevalence and risk and protective factors associated with suicide in Ghana, a nationwide Global School-based Student Health Survey data colle...

Background: Self-harm, whether attributed to suicidal or non-suicidal motives, is associated with several poor outcomes in young people, including eventual suicide. Much of our understanding of self-harm in young people is based on literature from Europe (particularly, the UK), North America, and Australia. We aimed to synthesise the available evi...

We explored the views of members of parliament (MPs) in Ghana on the call to decriminalise attempted suicide. We applied reflexive thematic analysis to Parliamentary Hansards (2017-2020) on calls to decriminalise attempted suicide in Ghana. 11 MPs shared their stance for or against the call. We developed three major themes that entailed, often, opp...

Background Globally, suicide is the third leading cause of death among girls aged 15–19 years. However, there is a growing concern that suicide research has paid little attention to pregnant adolescent girls, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries, including Ghana, where nearly one in seven adolescents experiences (unwanted) pregnan...

Suicide is a multi-causal and complex phenomenon that affects thousands of people worldwide. One of the perspectives for its understanding is the analysis and understanding of attitudes toward suicide; these attitudes vary between countries and cultures, so it is required to contextualize them. The study's objective was to develop a systematic revi...

Background The interpersonal‐psychological theory of suicidal behavior (IPTSB) is widely applied to explain non‐fatal suicide behaviors, but yet to be tested empirically with a Ghanaian sample. Aims Using a total of 800 junior high school students (JHS) in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, this study tests the utility of the IPTSB with the aim of...

Written by experts in the field, this book’s comprehensive coverage touches all the main areas of importance to those needing to understand and respond to one of the most pressing contemporary challenges in public mental health. As part of the Oxford Psychiatry Library series, this book covers topics such as the nature of self-harm, who it affects,...

There is a growing global concern that suicide research has paid less than enough attention to young children. We drew on local media reports (January 2000–March 2022) to provide initial descriptive evidence on attempted suicide and suicide among children aged 12 and younger in Ghana. We applied summative content analysis to 30 eligible media repor...

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly shaped the global landscape and impacted various aspects of individuals’ lives, especially the behaviour of school-going adolescents regarding substance use. Among these substances, alcohol is the most predominant substance, particularly among school-going adolescents, who also are highly suscep...

Aim In Ghana, we know little about the epidemiology of suicide ideation, plan and attempts among junior high school (JHS) students in Ghana including the years preceding high school. This study explores the onset, characteristics, and recent patterns of 12-month suicide behavior among Ghanaian junior high school (JHS) students. Materials and Metho...

Using a qualitative multi‐methods approach, this study explored the offence, survivor and perpetrator characteristics, and the lived experiences of child and adolescent survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA) in Ghana. We analysed the contents of local media reports of CSA cases from January 2015 to December 2020 in Ghana, after which we conducted se...

In Ghana, we know little about the epidemiology of suicide ideation, plan and attempts among junior high school (JHS) students in Ghana including the years preceding high school. This study explores the onset, characteristics, and recent patterns of 12-month suicide behavior among Ghanaian junior high school (JHS) students. Paper based surveys were...

This book presents an autobiographical collection that discusses the thoughts and experiences of notable women psychologists in Ghana on how they became involved in studying psychology and what specific contributions they have made towards expanding the frontiers of the field in the country. Their failures, successes, anecdotes and serendipity in p...

Background While adolescent suicidal behaviour (ideation, planning, and attempt) remains a global public health concern, available county-specific evidence on the phenomenon from African countries is relatively less than enough. The present study was conducted to estimate the 12-month prevalence and describe some of the associated factors of suicid...

The study sought to assess the prevalence and factors associated with Food Insecurity (FI) and further quantify its impact on substance use and suicidal behaviours (ideation, planning, and repeated attempted suicide) among school-going adolescents in Africa. The study involved a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from the Global School-Base...

Alcohol use and drunkenness, along with other risky behaviours, tend to emerge during the adolescent years. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and correlates of alcohol use and lifetime drunkenness among school-going adolescents in Namibia. Using the 2013 Namibia Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS), 3089 adolescents aged 12...

Introduction: Assessing mental health literacy has implications for the identification and treatment of mental health problems. Adolescents have been identified as a particularly important target group for initiating and improving mental health literacy. However, much of what we know about adolescent mental health literacy comes from high-income c...

This research note describes self-reported medicines used by adolescents for self-harm in Ghana and highlights some of the emerging evidence on access to the identified medicines. A secondary analysis of data drawn from a 2017 regionally representative survey on self-harm among in-school and street-connected adolescents in Ghana was performed. Freq...

Background and Aims An important but much less researched burden of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Sub‐Saharan Africa includes the associated mental health outcomes of living with the virus. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress, and describe some of the socio‐demographic associations among people liv...

While there are no official data and published studies on clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse (CPSA) from Ghana, local media reports continue to show worrying trends of the phenomenon. We drew on 73 media reports from January 2000 to March 2019, to describe the offence characteristics and profiles of the perpetrators and survivors of CPSA in Ghana. The...

Background Unintentional injuries among adolescents constitute a significant public health problem globally. Injured adolescents may face negative outcomes ranging from poor academic performance to short- and long-term physical and psychosocial health struggles, and even death. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and describe the c...

Regional and national level data on bullying victimisation and its associated factors among deaf adolescents are still lacking, particularly, in Africa. We conducted a cross-sectional self-report anonymous survey involving a nationally representative random sample of 450 school-going deaf adolescents in Ghana. Bivariate and multivariate analyses of...

Background: A growing global concern is that suicide research has paid little attention to young people with disabilities, particularly, in low- and middle-income countries (LAMICs). We aimed to estimate the 12-month prevalence of suicidal ideation and attempt and describe some associations among deaf adolescents in Ghana. Methods: This is a cro...

The burgeoning body of evidence suggests that the aggregated 12-month prevalence estimates of suicidal behaviors (ideation, planning, and attempt) are relatively higher among in-school adolescents in Africa, although country-specific data on the phenomena are still inadequate from the continent. We sought to estimate the 12-month prevalence and ide...

Background : Children and young people living in post-conflict contexts are at increased risk of suicidal behaviours (ideations and attempts). Not much is known about the extent of suicidal behaviours among adolescents in most notable post-conflict countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Sierra Leone. Methods : We performed a secondary analysis...

Introduction Self-harm and suicidal behaviour represent major global health problems, which account for significant proportions of the disease burden in low-income and middle-income countries, including Ghana. This review aims to synthesise the available and accessible evidence on prevalence estimates, correlates, risk and protective factors, the c...

Background: Adolescent sexual violence victimization is still less researched in countries within sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghana. Objectives: To estimate the 12-month prevalence of sexual violence victimization and describe the differences and commonalities in the associated factors between school-going boys and girls in urban Ghana. Parti...

Globally, mental health issues have been neglected and allowed to be suppressed by stigma and discrimination for a very long time, although mental disorders are responsible for about 30% of the global non-fatal disease burden. Thus, the global call for solution to this challenge admonishes governments, donors, and mental health service users to pri...

The increase in the trends of the repealing of anti-suicide laws especially, in the High Income Countries, is largely due to the growth of evidence that suggests that difficult psychosocial factors and existential adversities are responsible for suicidal behaviour, which thereby warrant advocacy to help rather than punish persons who attempt suicid...

Background: Marijuana use among adolescents, including high school students, has been consistently reported to be associated with a high incidence of suicidal behaviours. Little empirical research has been conducted on the propensity impact of marijuana use on suicidal behaviours in Africa. Aims: To assess factors associated with marijuana use a...

Background: A growing body of evidence from high-income contexts suggests a strong association between sexual violence victimisation and self-harm and eventual suicide. However, both sexual violence and self-harm among adolescents are still less researched in sub-Saharan African countries, including Ghana. Objectives: To estimate the 12-month preva...

As a result of a long colonial history and subsequent developmental and economic challenges, many African countries have struggled to put in place adequate policies, systems, and associated infrastructures to address the health and social needs of their citizens. With the COVID-19 pandemic threatening human lives and livelihoods, concerns are raise...

As a result of a long colonial history and subsequent developmental and economic challenges, many African countries have struggled to put in place adequate policies, systems, and associated infrastructures to address the health and social needs of their citizens. With the COVID-19 pandemic threatening human lives and livelihoods, concerns are raise...

Problem gambling among young people is now a public health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the behaviour remains understudied, particularly, among rural-dwelling young people in countries within the subregion. We aimed to estimate the 12 months prevalence of problem gambling and to describe the overall and gender differences and commonali...

Suicidal ideation is a critical risk for attempted suicide and eventual suicide. Little is known about suicidal ideation among rural adolescents in most sub-Saharan African countries. We aimed to estimate the 12-month prevalence of suicidal ideation and to describe some of the common and gender-specific associated factors among in-school adolescent...

Objectives To identify the prevalence, methods, associations and reported reasons for self-harm among in-school and street-connected adolescents in Ghana. Design A cross-sectional survey. We applied multi-level regression models and model-based cluster analysis to the data. Setting Three contexts in the Greater Accra region were used: second cycl...

Objective: To explore the socio-demographic profiles, and the key characteristics of nonfatal suicide attempts and suicide deaths in older persons in Ghana. Method: Content analysis was applied to 71 local media news reports on nonfatal suicide attempts and suicide deaths in older persons in Ghana between 2000 and 2017. Findings: A disproportiona...

Objectives: We sought to estimate the prevalence of self-reported self-harm among adolescents identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) in Ghana, and compare self-reported personal and social adversities related to self-harm in this group to those in a random sample of heterosexual adolescents from the same locality. Results:...

Background: Emerging research on suicidal behaviors among adolescents in Ghana has been conducted mainly among senior high school students. Aims: We aimed to estimate the 12-month prevalence of suicide attempts and describe some of the general and gender-specific associated factors among adolescents attending junior high schools (JHSs) in Ghana. Me...

Whereas suicide remains in the top 12 leading causes of death among young people aged 10–24 in sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about suicidal behaviours among adolescents in Liberia. We aimed to estimate the 12-month prevalence and describe some of the correlates of suicide behaviours (ideation, planning, and attempt) among school-going adolesc...

Abstract Background: The association between substance use including marijuana use and attempted suicide has been well documented. However, little is known about marijuana use and its association with attempted suicide repetition among young people in low-income and middle-income contexts. Aims: This analysis was conducted to assess the factors a...

Abstract. Background: Despite recent media reports showing disturbing trends of police suicides in Ghana, no published studies are available from the country. Aims: We sought to estimate the prevalence and describe some of the correlates of suicidal behaviors among police officers in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Method: We surveyed a convenie...

Background: In Ghana, rates of self-harm in young people are as high as they are in high income countries. Self-reported interpersonal, familial and societal stressors form the most important background, and self-harm is seen by young people as a way of responding to that stress. In the present study, we obtained the views of key adult informants...

Background: Recent prevalence studies suggest that self-harm among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa is as common as it is in high income countries. However, very few qualitative studies exploring first-person accounts of adolescent self-harm are available from sub-Saharan Africa. We sought to explore the experiences and first-person perspectives...

Background: Irresponsible media reporting of suicide is a potential risk for copycat suicide. There is a paucity of studies from sub-Saharan Africa on the quality of media reporting of suicide. Objectives: We assessed the compliance of Ghanaian online media outlets with the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for media reporting of suicide....

Vigilantism is gaining popularity in Africa as a means of self‐defence, enacting justice, policing morality, and sanctioning (perceived) wrongdoings. Drawing on content analysis of 172 media reports from 2001 to 2018, this study examined the trends and patterns of vigilantism, characteristics of victims, and reported reasons for recourse to vigilan...

Aim: To provide exploratory and descriptive evidence on the prevalence estimate and some demographic correlates of suicidal behaviour among nursing and midwifery college students in Ghana. Design: We used a cross‐sectional survey design. Method: An anonymous survey involving a randomly selected sample of 305 nursing and midwifery college students w...

Community leaders can play an important role in suicide prevention because they are potential gatekeepers in resource-poor settings. To investigate their attitudes towards suicide and the role they play when people are in suicidal crisis, 10 community leaders were interviewed in a rural community in Ghana. Thematic Analysis of the interviews showed...

Evidence from Africa on the motivations and experiences of student volunteers in community disaster relief response programmes are rare. This study explores the experiences and views of the students, who volunteered at the emergency mental health relief response site after the 3 June 2015 flood and fire disaster in Accra, and the implications for f...

Background: Compared to other chronic conditions, non-adherence to medication in diabetes patients is very high. This study explores the relationship between illness representation and medication adherence in diabetes patients in Ghana. Method: A total of 196 type 2 diabetes patients purposively and conveniently sampled from a tertiary hospital in...

We argue, drawing on our experience (with a small team of suicide researchers in Ghana; a sub-Saharan African country with about 28 million people), that perhaps a potentially demonstrable pathway to population-based suicide prevention in LMICs is to coordinate the various concrete “small wins” of local community-level suicide prevention efforts to...

Multiple perpetrator rape (MPR) is criminalised in Ghana but there is a dearth of research and official statistics on the phenomenon. This study explores some of the key characteristics of MPR in Ghana as reported in the media. Keyword search of the news archives of 9 Ghanaian media outlets generated 57 cases of MPR reported from January 2000 throu...

The penal code of Ghana condemns suicide attempt. The present study sought to explore the views of the police on persons who attempt suicide and the law criminalizing the act. Qualitative in-depth interviews were used to explore the views of 18 officers of the Ghana Police Service. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis technique. Findings show...

Acknowledgements in students’ dissertations are considered a socially anticipated illocutionary response and act. This article aims to contribute to our knowledge about graduates' gratitude expression in dissertations. A content analysis was conducted on the acknowledgement section of 60 Psychology dissertations submitted to the Department of Psych...

In Ghana, incest is considered sinful, taboo, and illegal. However, recent media reports show that incest has become a daily reality in Ghana. This study is a situational analysis of the pattern of incest in Ghana as reported in the media from January 2008 through July 2015. Qualitative content analysis was conducted on 48 incest news reports in Gh...

Aim The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction among nurses in Accra, Ghana. Methods A correlational study was conducted in Ghana in 2015. The study conveniently sampled 120 registered general nurses (83 females and 37 males) from three public hospitals located in Accra. The Schutte Se...

In the correspondence entitled “Self harm-a culture-bound syndrome? Ghana and UK experience”, Dr. Avevor provides very interesting experiential comparative reflections on the incidence of the phenomenon of self-harm or parasuicide between Ghana and the UK. However, the author’s reflections reveal two key factual inaccuracies about the subject matte...

The maiden register of the Ghana Psychological Council published in September 2015 represents the first national official standing register of psychologists in Ghana. Drawing on this maiden register, this paper presents a seminal analysis of the distribution of psychologists in Ghana in terms of categories of specialisation, gender composition, are...

Community leaders occupy an important role in the scheme of suicide prevention because they are a potential gatekeeper group in resource poor settings. To investigate their attitudes towards suicide and the role they play when people are in suicidal crisis, ten community leaders were interviewed in a rural community in Ghana. Thematic Analysis of t...

Adolescent suicide is now a major health concern for many countries. However, there is paucity of systematic studies and lack of official statistics on adolescent suicide in Ghana. Mass media coverage of adolescent suicide (even though crude), at least, may reflect the reality of the phenomenon. With an ecological orientation, this study used quali...

To understand the experiences of suicidal persons in Ghana, 10 persons were interviewed after they attempted suicide. Thematic analysis of data showed that motivation for suicidal behavior included social taunting, hopelessness, and partner's infidelity. Suicidal persons reported stigma expressed through physical molestation and social ostracism, w...

Drawing on recorded interviews and focus group discussions with shopkeepers, and junior and senior high school children respectively in Accra Central, this study explores the public’s perceptions of the phenomenon of street children in Accra, Ghana. A semi-structured interview guide was used. Qualitative analyses of the data indicated that both sho...