Group membership, social identification and mental health: A test of social cure or curse narrative in resource-poor communities in Ghana

Abstract

Mainstream psychology research promotes social group membership as a remedy for poor mental health. However, empirical evidence from African communities is limited. Using a survey of 384 respondents (female = 55.7%; mean age = 34.38 years, SD = 14.37 years), we examined this in two resource-poor Ghanaian urban communities. Depressive symptoms ranged from 11.5% to 28.1%, with severe symptom rates higher in male participants. Anxiety symptoms varied from 6.5% to 14.6%. Hierarchical regression showed that after accounting for demographic variables, multiple group membership, group stigma, and identity centrality were associated with heightened depressive and anxiety symptoms. Ingroup homogeneity, satisfaction with the group, and perceived solidarity were associated with lower levels of symptoms. The findings reveal a dual-edge impact of social identification on mental health, underscoring the need for the development of context-specific interventions to effectively harness social group membership as psychosocial resources to improve mental health within African contexts.