Construction and internal temporal validation of a LASSO regression-based risk assessment model for non-suicidal self-injury addiction-like features in adolescents and young adults with depression.

Witchcraft accusations remain a pervasive and deeply consequential social phenomenon across parts of sub-Saharan Africa (). Although historically present across Europe, Asia and the Americas, contemporary accusations in many African contexts continue to shape community relations, social order and the lived experiences of vulnerable groups (). Within these settings, witchcraft is often conceptualized not merely as a belief system, but as an interpretive framework through which misfortune, illness and interpersonal conflict are understood. This perception is underpinned by long-standing cultural traditions that embed witchcraft within wider systems of morality, cosmology and social regulation (). The figure of the “witch” is particularly gendered and age-specific. Older women, especially those who are widowed, socially marginalized or living in poverty, are disproportionately targeted (). Anthropological work by scholars has shown that witchcraft beliefs frequently conflate age, gender and spiritual power, producing a narrative in which older women are perceived as potentially harmful, deviant or morally suspect (). In many communities, physical signs of aging, disability or social withdrawal are reinterpreted as markers of supernatural danger. This dynamic contributes to processes of stigma, violence and social exclusion, particularly when accusations are acted upon, rather than arising from belief alone (). In Ghana, witchcraft continues to shape interpretations of misfortune and everyday social interactions. The persistence of witch camps, often described as spaces to which accused individuals are relocated for protection, illustrates the severity of community responses to allegations (). These camps embody a dual reality: they protect women from immediate violence while simultaneously isolating them from family networks, livelihoods and political participation (). Such practices highlight the intersection of gender, age, ethnicity, economics and customary law.