Poverty and children's mental, emotional, and behavioral health in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

The mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders (MEBDs) in children in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) can lead to significant impairment and disability, and high social and financial costs for the children, their family, and society as a whole. Thus, it is important to understand the predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating factors of MEBD in children in SSA. For the objective of this chapter, we address the complex effects of poverty in the development of many MEBDs in children and adolescents in SSA.