CO-LUMINATE: Co-Creating Knowledge On The Longitudinal Direct And Mediation Relationships Between Youth Mental Health And Social Stress Exposures
Youth Mental Health and Social Stress Exposures
CO-LUMINATE
Co-Creating Knowledge On The Longitudinal Direct And Mediation Relationships Between Youth Mental Health And Social Stress Exposures
CO-LUMINATE investigates how childhood and adolescent social stress exposures shape depression risk over time among South African youth aged 13-24, using a longitudinally linked dataset nested within the AHRI Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS). The study integrates four connected analytical components: depression endpoint harmonization, social determinant trajectory modeling, behavioral mediator assessment, and causal mediation analysis, with Youth Co-Creators guiding interpretation and context-sensitive framing so that findings remain scientifically rigorous, locally grounded, and policy-relevant.
Study Snapshot
5,279
Young people in linked sample
13-24
Age range
5 Cohorts
Nested within AHRI HDSS
11 YCC
Youth Co-Creators providing thought leadership
Project Overview
CO-LUMINATE leverages the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) to create a longitudinal linked dataset of 5,279 adolescents and young people. The dataset supports analysis of how social determinants of mental health, including socioeconomic status (SES) and caregiver co-residency, relate to depressive symptoms over time.
The project also uses a structured co-creation model with 11 Youth Co-Creators (YCC), who contribute meaningful thought leadership to refine, guide, and nuance the research process and interpretation.
Study Design
Longitudinal Linkage
Individual-level depression outcomes are linked to household HDSS trajectories to assess direct and mediation relationships through time.
Youth Co-Creation
Eleven YCC members provide co-created input to strengthen relevance, interpretation, and context-sensitive framing of findings, and to guide analytical pathways.
Secondary Data Analysis
Longitudinal analyses evaluate relationships between social stress exposures (including SES and caregiver co-residency) and symptoms of depression.