Smanga Mkhwanazi

Biographic Data

ID908210
NAMESmanga Mkhwanazi
GIVEN NAMESSmanga
FAMILY NAMEMkhwanazi
SIGNATUREMKHWANAZI S
AFFILIATIONSSouth African Medical Research Council
ORCID0000-0001-9474-9992
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS17
TOTAL CITATIONS3
AUTHOR COUNT17
EDITOR COUNT0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2020
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2026
H-INDEX1

  • Perceptions of masculinity and relationship power among young men in Durban and Soweto, South Africa

    Open AccessCampion Zharima, Amanda Rowlands et al.ARTICLECulture Health & Sexuality2026

    Masculinities influence sexual, reproductive, and mental health outcomes and health seeking behaviours, as they intersect with socioeconomic, cultural and political forces. In post-apartheid South Africa, racialised inequities and social change shape how young men navigate gender and relationships. This paper explores how young men living in urban informal settlements understand masculinity and relationship power. Cognitive interviews were conduc…

  • The Role of Housing Conditions, Air Quality and Green Spaces on the Psychological Well-being of Adolescents living with HIV

    Open AccessBusisiwe Shezi, Hilbert Mendoza et al.ARTICLEWellbeing Space and Society2026

    Background The psychological well-being of adolescents is often associated with environmental factors such as air pollution, green spaces and housing conditions; however, little is known about how these factors shape the experiences of adolescents living with HIV in under-resourced communities. Aim This study explored the role of urban environmental factors, including housing conditions, air quality and green spaces, on the psychological well-bei…

  • How do community contexts shape relationship dynamics? A case study of young people living in informal settlements in eThekwini municipality, South Africa

    Open AccessA Gibbs, Eliezer Stern et al.ARTICLESocial Science & Medicine2026

    For young people intimate relationships are a key space in which health and wellbeing are strengthened or undermined. This study seeks to understand how contextual factors shape relationship quality among young heterosexual people in informal settlements in eThekwini Municipality, South Africa. In-depth interviews with (N = 30) young (ages 18-30) heterosexual women and men living in informal settlements, stakeholders (N = 13, aged 18+) and partic…

  • Relationship-level factors influencing intimate partner violence and relationship quality among young couples in an urban informal settlement in South Africa

    Open AccessEliezer Stern, Leon Washington et al.ARTICLECulture Health & Sexuality2026

    Couples programming is an evidence-based strategy to prevent intimate partner violence (IPV) and strengthen relationship quality. Stepping Stones Creating Futures (SSCF) is a 21-session participatory programme for young adults (18-30 years) that integrates gender equity, communication and livelihoods skills, and has been evaluated in informal settlements in eThekwini, South Africa. Zithandani SSCF is an adaptation engaging young heterosexual coup…

  • Exploratory analysis of risk factors for suicidal ideation among young men in urban informal settlements in durban, South Africa

    Open AccessSmanga Mkhwanazi, Yandisa Sikweyiya et al.ARTICLESSM - Mental Health2025

    Suicidal ideation – thoughts about suicide, but not necessarily planning or attempting - is common among young people in Low and Middle-Income Countries. There has been a significant focus on poor mental health as a key driver of suicidal ideation, yet structural challenges such as poverty, economic and social marginalisation and gender norms, have also been shown to be critical drivers of suicidal ideation among young men. We conducted an explor…

  • Zethembe

    Open AccessA Gibbs, Zama Khoza et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2025

    Effective interventions to address violence against women and girls in urban informal settlements are limited. To address this gap, we undertook an intervention co-development process, bringing together four young women (aged 18–25 years) living in an urban informal settlement, academics and NGO partners. Following the 6 Steps in Quality Intervention Development (6SQuID) approach we collaboratively worked through the steps using participatory met…

  • Stepping Stones and Creating Futures Plus

    Open AccessA Gibbs, Leon Washington et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2025

    Marginalised young women and men in South Africa experience and perpetrate high rates of intimate partner violence (IPV), shaped by their contexts and life histories. To address this, we co-developed Stepping Stones and Creating Futures Plus (SSCF+) with young women and men living in marginalised communities to reduce IPV, strengthen livelihoods and improve mental health. We assessed the intervention’s feasibility, acceptability and potential imp…

  • Emotion regulation strategies among young men in rural areas and urban informal settlements in South Africa

    Open AccessPrincess Nyoni, Andrew Tomita et al.ARTICLEVulnerable Children and Youth…2025References: 2

    Emotional dysregulation (ED), the inability to manage emotional responses effectively is a well-documented major symptom of poor mental health, especially in high-income countries. Evidence from these settings links ED to adverse childhood experiences, chronic poverty, and structural disadvantage. ED has also been associated with increased risk of HIV acquisition and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, particularly among men. Despite th…

  • Pilot cluster randomised controlled trial of Stepping Stones and Creating Futures Plus to reduce emotional dysregulation among young men in rural areas and urban informal settlements in KwaZulu-Natal …

    Open AccessPrincess Nyoni, Andrew Tomita et al.ARTICLEInternational Journal of Social…2024References: 3

    Aim: Emotional dysregulation (ED) – the difficulty to control emotional responses to stressors – is a potential driver of intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration among young men in HIV endemic resource-limited settings. This two-armed pilot cluster randomised controlled trial investigated the effectiveness of Stepping Stones and Creating Futures Plus (SSCF+), a participatory gender transformative and livelihood strengthening intervention, on…

  • Couples, alcohol use and experience of intimate partner violence among young women in urban informal settlements in Durban, South Africa

    Open AccessA Gibbs, Smanga Mkhwanazi et al.ARTICLESocial Science & Medicine2024Cited by: 1References: 26

    Alcohol is recognized as a driver of intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration and experience, but relatively little research has focused on the role of couples' drinking patterns, nor pathways between alcohol and violence. We draw on data collected among young (18-30 year old) people living in informal settlements who self-selected to enroll in an intervention trial to reduce IPV in Durban, South Africa to understand these dynamics. Between S…

  • Young Men's Experiences of Being Fathered and Absent Father's Experience

    Open AccessSmanga Mkhwanazi, Rachel Jewkes et al.ARTICLEJournal of Applied Youth Studies2024Cited by: 2References: 28

    The impact of absent fathers can be a significant challenge for young people, but particularly for young men. Our study drew on 19 in-depth interviews with young men living in urban informal settlements in South Africa, to understand how they understood the impact of biological father absence. Young men described an idealized fatherhood role in which biological fathers provided economic support, active fathering (including emotional support), and…

  • Challenges and opportunities in coproduction

    Open AccessJenevieve Mannell, Leon Washington et al.ARTICLEBMJ Global Health2023

    Coproduction is widely recognised as essential to the development of effective and sustainable complex health interventions. Through involving potential end users in the design of interventions, coproduction provides a means of challenging power relations and ensuring the intervention being implemented accurately reflects lived experiences. Yet, how do we ensure that coproduction delivers on this promise? What methods or techniques can we use to …

  • Impact of South Africa’s April 2022 floods on women and men’s lives and gender relations in low-income communities

    Open AccessRachel Jewkes, A Gibbs et al.ARTICLESSM - Mental Health2023

    In 2022, South Africa faced devastating flooding which resulted in the loss of at least 425 lives and widescale destruction of property. Using qualitative methods, we describe the gendered impact of the floods on homes and lives of women and men from very low-income housing areas. We conducted 16 in-depth interviews with women, and eight single-sex narrative group discussions and with 35 women and 15 men from flood-affected areas. The women were …

  • Adaptation and pre-test of a shortened Stepping Stones and Creating Futures intervention focused on HIV for young men in rural South Africa

    Open AccessA Gibbs, Dumile Gumede et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2023

    Men’s engagement in HIV prevention and treatment is suboptimal, including in South Africa. We sought to address this through adapting an evidence-based intervention, Stepping Stones and Creating Futures (SSCF), to strengthen its HIV content and provide a more scalable (shorter) intervention in rural South Africa. We then conducted a mixed methods pre-test of the intervention among young men aged 18–35 years. To adapt SSCF, we reviewed the current…

  • Risk factors for generalized anxiety disorder among young women and men in informal settlements in South Africa

    Open AccessSmanga Mkhwanazi, A GibbsARTICLESSM - Mental Health2021

    Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is common globally, particularly among young people, but limited research has been done on the risk factors for GAD especially in low-income settings. We sought to understand risk factors for GAD among young (ages 18–32) women and men from urban informal settlements in Durban, South Africa, enrolled in an intervention trial. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regressions were used to assess risk f…

  • Stepping Stones and Creating Futures Intervention to Prevent Intimate Partner Violence Among Young People

    Open AccessA Gibbs, Leon Washington et al.ARTICLEJournal of Adolescent Health2020

    PURPOSE: Young people, not in formal employment or education, face exceedingly high levels of intimate partner violence (IPV). We evaluated whether Stepping Stones and Creating Futures, compared with a wait-list control, can reduce IPV and strengthen livelihoods. METHODS: A cluster randomized controlled trial with 34 clusters in urban informal settlements in eThekwini Municipality, South Africa. Participant inclusion criteria were aged 18-30 year…

  • Gender role conflict and sexual health and relationship practices amongst young men living in urban informal settlements in South Africa

    Open AccessKalysha Closson, Abigail M Hatcher et al.ARTICLECulture Health & Sexuality2020

    Qualitative research suggests that men's inability to achieve dominant forms of masculinity may be related to HIV-risk behaviours and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. Using clustered cross-sectional data, we assessed how young men's gender role conflict was associated with HIV-risk behaviours in urban informal settlements in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Gender Role Conflict and Stress (GRC/S) was measured using a South African adapta…