The influence of social factors on the psychological well-being of children in family institutions

Abstract

Children who live in difficult social circumstances are more vulnerable to poor mental health over their life course, in ways that are often determined by structural factors which generate and perpetuate intergenerational cycles of disadvantage and poor health. Addressing these challenges is an imperative matter of social justice. In this paper the social determinants that cause mental ill health were analyzed based on literature review materials.  

Social determinants of health represent the most modifiable set of targets for intervention currently available to prevent the onset of mental health problems and disorders, and to promote positive mental health in our populations. Social determinants of mental health encompass the set of structural conditions to which people are exposed across the life course, from conception to death, which affect individual mental health outcomes, and contribute to mental health disparities within and between populations. These structural conditions include factors such as income, employment, socioeconomic status, education, food security, housing, social support, discrimination, childhood adversity, as well as the neighbourhood social and physical conditions in which people live, and the ability to access acceptable and affordable health care (Velez et.al., 2022).