The association of diminished quality of life of Afghan adults’ psychosocial wellbeing, in the era of the Taliban 2.0 government

After the 2021 US withdrawal, a drastic transition of power coupled with international sanctions and the Islamic State-Taliban conflict led to growing issues of widespread economic hardships, food insecurity, stricter social policies, and changes to daily life. This 2023 study examines the association of diminished quality of life (DQOL) on the psychosocial wellbeing of Afghan adults living in-country under the Taliban- Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Applying Solar & Irwin's social determinants of health framework, we present the quantitative analysis of data collected from 873 Afghan respondents (ages 18-65) of a digital survey, using snowball sampling over social media. Data analysis examines the association between individual self-reported quality of life hardships and psychosocial stress symptoms (disaggregated and aggregated), disaggregated by demographics. Approximately nine-in-ten Afghans face DQOL correlates related to higher psychosocial stress (PSS). 72.9% (CI95% 69.8-76.0) of respondents self-report suffering food insecurity; 71.6% (CI 95% 68.3-74.8) poor access to needed healthcare. The extent to which Afghan men face limited household healthcare access is linked to higher PSS levels (χ2 = 117.10, p<0.001). A matching analysis of survey data indicates that Marginal Effects that lack of healthcare access increases the probability of stress by approximately 8%; experiencing the loss of loved ones also has a significant effect ranging from 9% to 11%; and experiencing threats of violence leads to a substantial increase in the probability of PSS, ranging from 34% to 36%. Qualitative data triangulate the statistical findings, provides intrinsic insight into Afghans' daily experiences, and inform causal mechanisms related to share trauma experiences. The 2021 US withdrawal marked a turbulent political shift in Afghanistan that disrupted previous structural determinants of health, like gender and age. The political shift, international sanctions, and internal crises have worsened the humanitarian conditions affecting most Afghans, negatively impacting their physical and psychosocial wellbeing.