Elias Mpofu
Biographic Data
| ID | 129213 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Elias Mpofu |
| GIVEN NAMES | Elias |
| FAMILY NAME | Mpofu |
| SIGNATURE | MPOFU E |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Sydney |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2347-3540 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 43 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 50 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 42 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1994 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
“There was No Alternative Choice” – Australian Migrant Youth’s Abortion Decision-making and Experiences
Introduction Decision-making and experiences of accessing abortion are complex, shaped by myriad intersecting personal, relational, social and structural factors. While abortion is decriminalised in Australia, there is limited information on the experiences of immigrant groups. Migrant youth have lower sexual health knowledge and service uptake than mainstream Australian youth and may have higher rates of unplanned pregnancy and contend with prev…
Western Sydney Migrant and Refugee Youths’ Perspectives about Access and Use of Contraception in Australia
Introduction Access to contraception is an essential component of sexual and reproductive health and rights, yet migrant and refugee youth face significant barriers in accessing contraceptive services. This study examines migrant and refugee youth’s knowledge, beliefs, and experiences regarding contraception access and utilization in Greater Western Sydney. Methods A phenomenological qualitative approach was used to explore participants’ lived ex…
Women Living with HIV in Zimbabwe
This study explored women living with HIV (WLHIV)'s stigma-related emotional life and sense of self in a rural Zimbabwean setting. The objective of this study was to understand the sense of stigma in the emotional lives and self-perception of women living with HIV in rural Zimbabwe. The participants were a purposive sample of 20 rural women living with HIV. Their age ranged from 20 to 65 years old. WLHIV completed semi-structured individual inter…
Sexual and reproductive health and rights decision-making among Australian migrant and refugee youth
13). GCM involved participants brainstorming statements about how migrant and refugee youth make SRH decisions. Participants then sorted statements into groups based on similarity, and rated statements on importance and impact. Multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis were used to cluster statements into concept maps that represented participants' perspectives. The resulting maps comprised six clusters representing main concepts…
Migrant and Refugee Youth’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
Young adulthood is a crucial life stage, during which major sexual and reproductive health (SRH) development occurs, and gender norms are often entrenched. Australian migrant and refugee youth (MRY) have particular SRH experiences and vulnerabilities such as under-use of services, higher rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unplanned pregnancy, and experiences of community and family stigma. There is limited research on how gender int…
Subjective Functional Difficulties and Subjective Cognitive Decline in Older-Age Adults
Background and Objectives : Despite the expected positive association between subjective functional difficulties (SFD) and subjective cognitive decline (SCD), their mediation by mentally unhealthy days (MUDs) is under-studied. Moreover, few SCD studies have examined affective reactivity to functional difficulties by age cohort. This study examined the mediation effect of MUDs on the association between SFD and SCD by age cohorts' moderation among…
Validation of the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale in Indonesia
Meaning in Life Among Ghanaian University Students
Remote Work Support Needs of Employees with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Poland
These findings suggest a need for an autism-inclusive digitalized remote work design customized to the unique needs of employees on the autism spectrum. Business managers would be key partners in the design of autism-inclusive digitalized remote work systems. Additional research is needed with larger and more diverse samples of employees with autism
Pathways to sexual decision making by Pentecostal church youths in Botswana
Church youth likely adopt discretionary sexual behaviours over the developmental period from early to older adolescents, which would make them more receptive to public sexual health messages. Personal agency appears to be an important resource for public health interventions aimed at influencing church youth's sexual decisions
Contraception decision making by Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (Cald) Australian youth
Context Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) youth may become early parents, with some aspiring to parenthood. Yet, the factors that influence CALD youths contraceptive decision-making are less well known, although important for designing appropriate contraception use support programmes for this population. This study aimed to explore the contraception decision-making patterns of CALD Australian youth, in-addition to investigating the fac…
Perception of Falls and Confidence in Self-Management of Falls among Older Adults
Objectives: Fall preventive programs aim to reduce risks for mortality from fall-related injuries among older adults. However, the covariation between personal perceptions of falls and factors and confidence of self-management in falls (CSMoF) is still under-studied despite its importance to fall prevention. We aimed to investigate the relative contribution of CSMoF in relation to fall risk self-perceptions while controlling for demographics and …
Self-Reported Pain Intensity and Depressive Symptoms Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders
How Religion Frames Health Norms
Religious communities influence health-related behaviors of adherents in important ways for public health promotion. Questions remain about the processes involved and resultant health promotion actions of the religious adherents. This study applied a structural theory analysis to understand the ways by which religious adherents adopt and enact health norms. Structural theory proposes systemic influences on behavioral predispositions at the latent…
Follower-Centric Influences on Sexual Decision Making in a Pentecostal Church Faith Community
This study utilized participatory action research approaches to construct a follower-centric framework for measuring influences on sexual decision making by youth members of a church organization. Participants were Batswana Pentecostal church members self-reporting on their engagement in pre-marital sex (n = 68, females = 62%; age range 15-23 years; median age = 20.3 years) from eight of 26 randomly selected congregations. They completed a multi-…
I thought if I marry the prophet I would not die
This study examines the association between religious affiliation and reasons for marriage, perceived church attitudes, and reproductive health-seeking behaviors, including HIV testing, among young women in eastern rural Zimbabwe. The sample comprised women (N = 35) who had married by 2012 while participating in a larger randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the effects of school support on HIV-related risk. The RCT sample was identified in 2…
In Search of an Integrative Measure of Functioning
International trends towards people-centred, integrative care and support require any measurement of functioning and disability to meet multiple aims. The information requirements of two major Australian programs for disability and rehabilitation are outlined, and the findings of two searches for suitable measures of functioning and disability are analysed. Over 30 current measures of functioning were evaluated in each search. Neither search foun…
Constructing a Framework for the Use of Tests Within a Developing Nation’s School System
Interpretive participatory action research methods were used to assist the education community in Botswana, a developing nation, to identify a framework for the use of tests in the nation’s schools. User preferences for understanding important learner-related qualities through the use of tests were emphasized. Participant informants were educators and school counselors ( n = 1,221), learners ( n = 355), parents/guardians ( n = 162), and education…
Faith and HIV prevention
A prospective HIV prevention intervention with the Pentecostal church youths would combine both faith and secular informed concepts. It also would need to take into account the ways in which these youth interpret secular-oriented health concepts in the context of their religious beliefs
Grandparents Fostering Orphans
In this study the authors explore the impact of protective factors on the health and well-being of grandmothers who are primary caregivers. Although researchers in Africa have studied grandparents who assume primary caregiving responsibilities, it is rare that they do so from a strength perspective, hence the need to examine the utility of personal, social, and environmental assets on caregiving. Grandmothers are the primary caregivers of orphane…
A Mixed Methods Mapping of Church Versus Secular School Messages to Influence Sexual Decision Making as Perceived by Zimbabwean Orphan Girl Students
This study examined the messages perceived by adolescent girls with orphanhood to influence their sexual decision-making. Participants were 125 students (mean age =14.7 years), 54% of whom attended church schools in a rural district of eastern Zimbabwe. We collected and analyzed data using concept mapping, a mixed method approach that enabled the construction of message clusters, with weighting for their relative importance. Messages that cluster…
Impact of Protective Factors on Resilience of Grandparent Carers Fostering Orphans and Non-Orphans in Zimbabwe
Positive emotions and good health experienced by resilient grandparent carers function as protective factors to reduce the magnitude of adversity to individuals and assist them to cope well with caregiving
Preventing HIV by providing support for orphan girls to stay in school
Findings contradict an earlier seminal study that Apostolics are relatively protected from HIV compared to other Christian denominations. Young Apostolic women are at increased risk of HIV infection through early marriage. The Apostolic Church is a large and growing denomination in sub-Saharan Africa and many Apostolic sects discourage medical testing and treatment in favor of faith healing. Since this can increase the risk of undiagnosed HIV inf…
Trauma Counseling
Understanding Human Abilities in Sub-Saharan African Settings
Cultural communities define and promote human abilities they perceive to give expression to their core values. Indigenous sub-Saharan African communities place a high premium mainly on abilities that promote or give expression to the value of social interests. This article considers human abilities from a cultural psychology perspective, one that reflects the understandings of culturally competent informants of valid and valued abilities in their…
Health Wise South Africa
The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of an international collaborative effort that aims to reduce risky behavior (e.g., substance use, risky sexual behavior) that leads to outcomes such as HIV/AIDs, pregnancy, and addictions among a sample of South African youth. Because many of these risky behaviors occur in free time, a major part of the effort was leisure education to promote positive use of free time. The program described…
Exploring the Self-Concept in an African Culture
Self-concept orientations (individualistic, collectivistic, and moralistic) were examined for 210 Zimbabwe college students of a Shona cultural background. Although the students tended to endorse an individualistic self-concept orientation to a significant extent, the women and the older students were more inclined to perceive of the self-concept as collectivistic and moralistic in orientation. Implications for self-concept models for African cul…
Apostolic faith church organization contexts for health and wellbeing in women and children
The findings suggest that the structural activities of the church for health and wellbeing could also have the paradoxical effect of exposing women and children to health risks from obligatory roles
How Religion Frames Health Norms
Religious communities influence health-related behaviors of adherents in important ways for public health promotion. Questions remain about the processes involved and resultant health promotion actions of the religious adherents. This study applied a structural theory analysis to understand the ways by which religious adherents adopt and enact health norms. Structural theory proposes systemic influences on behavioral predispositions at the latent…
A Mixed Methods Mapping of Church Versus Secular School Messages to Influence Sexual Decision Making as Perceived by Zimbabwean Orphan Girl Students
This study examined the messages perceived by adolescent girls with orphanhood to influence their sexual decision-making. Participants were 125 students (mean age =14.7 years), 54% of whom attended church schools in a rural district of eastern Zimbabwe. We collected and analyzed data using concept mapping, a mixed method approach that enabled the construction of message clusters, with weighting for their relative importance. Messages that cluster…
I thought if I marry the prophet I would not die
This study examines the association between religious affiliation and reasons for marriage, perceived church attitudes, and reproductive health-seeking behaviors, including HIV testing, among young women in eastern rural Zimbabwe. The sample comprised women (N = 35) who had married by 2012 while participating in a larger randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the effects of school support on HIV-related risk. The RCT sample was identified in 2…
Preventing HIV by providing support for orphan girls to stay in school
Findings contradict an earlier seminal study that Apostolics are relatively protected from HIV compared to other Christian denominations. Young Apostolic women are at increased risk of HIV infection through early marriage. The Apostolic Church is a large and growing denomination in sub-Saharan Africa and many Apostolic sects discourage medical testing and treatment in favor of faith healing. Since this can increase the risk of undiagnosed HIV inf…
Migrant and Refugee Youth’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
Young adulthood is a crucial life stage, during which major sexual and reproductive health (SRH) development occurs, and gender norms are often entrenched. Australian migrant and refugee youth (MRY) have particular SRH experiences and vulnerabilities such as under-use of services, higher rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unplanned pregnancy, and experiences of community and family stigma. There is limited research on how gender int…
Contraception decision making by Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (Cald) Australian youth
Context Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) youth may become early parents, with some aspiring to parenthood. Yet, the factors that influence CALD youths contraceptive decision-making are less well known, although important for designing appropriate contraception use support programmes for this population. This study aimed to explore the contraception decision-making patterns of CALD Australian youth, in-addition to investigating the fac…
Follower-Centric Influences on Sexual Decision Making in a Pentecostal Church Faith Community
This study utilized participatory action research approaches to construct a follower-centric framework for measuring influences on sexual decision making by youth members of a church organization. Participants were Batswana Pentecostal church members self-reporting on their engagement in pre-marital sex (n = 68, females = 62%; age range 15-23 years; median age = 20.3 years) from eight of 26 randomly selected congregations. They completed a multi-…
Impact of Protective Factors on Resilience of Grandparent Carers Fostering Orphans and Non-Orphans in Zimbabwe
Positive emotions and good health experienced by resilient grandparent carers function as protective factors to reduce the magnitude of adversity to individuals and assist them to cope well with caregiving
Self-Concept and Social Acceptance in Multiracial African Schools
Self-concept and social acceptance were examined for a sample of 154 Black and 203 White Zimbabwean schoolchildren attending racially integrated schools. Marsh's Self-Description Question naire-1 and multiple measures of social acceptance were used. Although Black children had levels of global self-esteem compara ble with, or higher than, that of their White classmates, Black pupils taught by White teachers had significantly lower reading and aca…
Children's interpretive strategies for class inclusion tasks
The study examined children's interpretive strategies for verbally presented class inclusion tasks as related to socio-cultural background, age and level of schooling. A total of 298 black and white Zimbabwe primary school children took part in the study. Children's performance was considered both qualitatively and quantitatively. Significant social class related differences in children's skill orientation were found. However, no socio-culturally…
Some Zimbabwean Evidence of the Internal Structure of the Self Description Questionnaire-I
This article examines the appropriateness for Zimbabwe students of the Self Description Questionnaire-I (SDQ-1) and the Shavelson model of self-concept on which it is based. The results of an administration of the SDQ-1 to 270 Zimbabwean 12- to 13-year-olds are reported. The internal consistency reliability coefficients obtained were moderate. Factor analysis generally supported both the specific facets of the SDQ-1 and the existence of an underl…
The Similarities Subtest of the British Ability Scales
The study investigated the content and construct validity of the British Ability Scales Similarities Test for Black and White Zimbabwe primary school children. Drawn from the two cultural groups, 200 children took part in the study. The test seemed to be free of construct and content bias for both cultural groups. Implications for test applications in a multicultural context are discussed and suggestions for further research given
Exploring the Self-Concept in an African Culture
Self-concept orientations (individualistic, collectivistic, and moralistic) were examined for 210 Zimbabwe college students of a Shona cultural background. Although the students tended to endorse an individualistic self-concept orientation to a significant extent, the women and the older students were more inclined to perceive of the self-concept as collectivistic and moralistic in orientation. Implications for self-concept models for African cul…
Children's interpretive strategies for class inclusion tasks
The study examined children's interpretive strategies for verbally presented class inclusion tasks as related to socio-cultural background, age and level of schooling. A total of 298 black and white Zimbabwe primary school children took part in the study. Children's performance was considered both qualitatively and quantitatively. Significant social class related differences in children's skill orientation were found. However, no socio-culturally…
Self-Concept and Social Acceptance in Multiracial African Schools
Self-concept and social acceptance were examined for a sample of 154 Black and 203 White Zimbabwean schoolchildren attending racially integrated schools. Marsh's Self-Description Question naire-1 and multiple measures of social acceptance were used. Although Black children had levels of global self-esteem compara ble with, or higher than, that of their White classmates, Black pupils taught by White teachers had significantly lower reading and aca…
Modernity and Subjective Well-Being in Zimbabwean College Students
The study utilized a multiple discrepancy approach to examine modernity as a correlate of subjective well-being in a sample of 110 Zimbabwean college students (44 males; 66 females) aged 24 to 58 years. Measures of subjective well-being covered satisfaction with life, domain of life satisfaction, frequency of emotional experiences, positive and negative affect. Students gave actual and ideal ratings of their subjective well-being and with compari…
Predicting School Achievement in Zimbabwean Multiracial Schools Using Biggs' Learning Process Questionnaire
Biggs' (1987) Learning Process Questionnaire (LPQ) is a widely acknowledged measure of student approaches to learning. However, its utility in predicting actual school achievement and in multi-cultural contexts is unknown. This study investigated the validity of Biggs' LPQ and its underlying theory in predicting academic achievement in Zimbabwean multiracial schools. Three hundred and seventy-six Zimbabwean black (157) and white (219) students (m…
Attitudes Towards HIV-Antibody Testing Among University Students in Four African Countries
Psychopharmacology in the Treatment of Conduct Disorder Children and Adolescents
The rationale for psychopharmacological treatments of conduct disorder (CD) in children and adolescent is discussed with reference to the presumed neurophysiological basis of the disorder. Specific psychopharmacological treatments for children with CD are identified and briefly evaluated in terms of their empirical foundations. The lack of a secure knowledge base on the biochemical basis of CD and the efficacy of psychopharmacological treatments …
Health Wise South Africa
The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of an international collaborative effort that aims to reduce risky behavior (e.g., substance use, risky sexual behavior) that leads to outcomes such as HIV/AIDs, pregnancy, and addictions among a sample of South African youth. Because many of these risky behaviors occur in free time, a major part of the effort was leisure education to promote positive use of free time. The program described…
Correlates of drug use in rural Africa
The results of a study on drug/substance use and sexual behaviours are reported for 1 573 teenagers from a rural district of South Africa (males = 834; females = 692; mean age = 16.27 years and SD = 2.77 years). The teenagers reported on their drug/substance use, use of condoms, experience with anal sex and number of sexual partners. The analyses considered the prevalence of drug/substance use, condom use and anal sex within sexually-active cohor…
Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure Scores in a Sample of Adolescents From Zimbabwe
This study examined the structural validity of scores on the 20-item Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM; Phinney, 1992) in a group of 196 students attending secondary school in Zimbabwe. MEIM scores yielded 2 factors (Ethnic Identity, or EI, and Other Group Orientation, or OGO) as in previous studies, with the EI factor being more viable. Factor analysis of the 14 EI items resulted in a single factor, in contrast to findings of previous stu…
Sexual Partners in a Rural South African Setting1
Temperament Styles in Zimbabwean Early Adolescents
The structure of temperament styles was investigated using Rasch analysis methods with data from 397 (46% males) Zimbabwean early adolescents. The students completed the Student Styles Questionnaire (SSQ), a 69 item children's self-report measure of temperament styles that uses a forced choice item format. Each item was scored as a dichotomous Rasch scale variable. Principal component analysis of the standardized residuals yielded unidimensional …
Counseling People of African Ancestry
This volume advances a uniquely Afro-centric, sociocultural understanding of health maintenance and risk reduction in African cultural heritage populations. It unites a diverse group of leading African and Africanist scholars in an exploration of common cultural values in African heritage communities and their practical applications in contemporary counseling. The chapters highlight the prominent health issues faced in Africanist settings today a…
Reproductive health and access to healthcare facilities
The relationship between women's post-earthquake mental health and reproductive health, socio-economic status, and health care access is complex and explained largely by the socio-cultural role of women. It is suggested that interventions that consider gender differences and that are culturally appropriate are likely to reduce the incidence
Eligibility, the ICF and the UN Convention
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in Australia, acts as a philosophical and moral statement and framework guiding integrated and strategic policy across the nation. Broad policy agreement has been reached by governments, and both the government and non-government sectors are developing strategies for implementation or evaluation. There is however a need for a more integrated approach to disability policy and informatio…
Apostolic faith church organization contexts for health and wellbeing in women and children
The findings suggest that the structural activities of the church for health and wellbeing could also have the paradoxical effect of exposing women and children to health risks from obligatory roles
Trauma Counseling
Understanding Human Abilities in Sub-Saharan African Settings
Cultural communities define and promote human abilities they perceive to give expression to their core values. Indigenous sub-Saharan African communities place a high premium mainly on abilities that promote or give expression to the value of social interests. This article considers human abilities from a cultural psychology perspective, one that reflects the understandings of culturally competent informants of valid and valued abilities in their…
Preventing HIV by providing support for orphan girls to stay in school
Findings contradict an earlier seminal study that Apostolics are relatively protected from HIV compared to other Christian denominations. Young Apostolic women are at increased risk of HIV infection through early marriage. The Apostolic Church is a large and growing denomination in sub-Saharan Africa and many Apostolic sects discourage medical testing and treatment in favor of faith healing. Since this can increase the risk of undiagnosed HIV inf…
Constructing a Framework for the Use of Tests Within a Developing Nation’s School System
Interpretive participatory action research methods were used to assist the education community in Botswana, a developing nation, to identify a framework for the use of tests in the nation’s schools. User preferences for understanding important learner-related qualities through the use of tests were emphasized. Participant informants were educators and school counselors ( n = 1,221), learners ( n = 355), parents/guardians ( n = 162), and education…
Faith and HIV prevention
A prospective HIV prevention intervention with the Pentecostal church youths would combine both faith and secular informed concepts. It also would need to take into account the ways in which these youth interpret secular-oriented health concepts in the context of their religious beliefs
Grandparents Fostering Orphans
In this study the authors explore the impact of protective factors on the health and well-being of grandmothers who are primary caregivers. Although researchers in Africa have studied grandparents who assume primary caregiving responsibilities, it is rare that they do so from a strength perspective, hence the need to examine the utility of personal, social, and environmental assets on caregiving. Grandmothers are the primary caregivers of orphane…
A Mixed Methods Mapping of Church Versus Secular School Messages to Influence Sexual Decision Making as Perceived by Zimbabwean Orphan Girl Students
This study examined the messages perceived by adolescent girls with orphanhood to influence their sexual decision-making. Participants were 125 students (mean age =14.7 years), 54% of whom attended church schools in a rural district of eastern Zimbabwe. We collected and analyzed data using concept mapping, a mixed method approach that enabled the construction of message clusters, with weighting for their relative importance. Messages that cluster…
Psychology (36 works) · Medicine (22 works) · Social Psychology (20 works) · Sociology (17 works) · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (14 works) · Developmental psychology (13 works) · Population (13 works) · Psychiatry (13 works) · Demography (9 works) · Political science (9 works)