CONGRESS ABSTRACT

Caregiver and youth self-reported emotional and behavioural problems in Ugandan HIV-infected children and adolescents

Leigh L. van den Heuvel^I; Jonathan Levin^II; Richard S. Mpango^III; Kenneth D. Gadow^IV; Vikram Patel^V; Jean B. Nachega^VI; Soraya Seedat^I; Eugene Kinyanda^III

^IDepartment of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
^IISchool of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
^IIIMental Health Project, MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit on AIDS/Senior Wellcome Trust Fellowship, Entebbe, Uganda
^IVDepartment of Psychiatry, Stony Brook University, United States
^VDepartment of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, United States
^VIDepartments of Epidemiology, Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, United States

Correspondence

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: We determined the prevalence of, and factors associated with, self-rated emotional and behavioural problems (EBPs) and assessed the agreement between self-rated and caregiver-rated EBPs in the 'Mental health among HIV-infected Children and Adolescents (CA-HIV) in Kampala and Masaka, Uganda' (CHAKA) study. Existing literature demonstrates that CA-HIV face increased mental health challenges related to a broad range of biological and psychosocial factors. There is scarce data on self-reported EBPs in CA-HIV
METHODS: In a cross-sectional sample, caregiver-reported EBPs were assessed with the Child and Adolescent Symptom Inventory-5 (CASI-5), and self-reported problems were evaluated with the Youth Inventory-4 (YI-4) in 469 adolescents aged 12-17 years and the Child Inventory-4 (CI-4) in 493 children aged 8-11 years. Logistic regression models were utilised to determine factors related to self-reported EBPs.
RESULTS: Self-reported emotional problems (EPs) were present in 28.8% of the adolescents and were associated with caregivers being separated and having a lower level of education. Among adolescents, 14.5% had self-reported behavioural problems (BPs), and these were associated with caregiver unemployment and food insecurity. Self-reported EPs were reported by 36.9% of children and were associated with rural study sites, having missed school and caregivers having a lower level of education. There was only modest agreement (maximum r = 0.29) between caregiver- and CA-HIV-reported EBPS, with caregivers reporting more EPs and adolescents reporting more BPs.
CONCLUSION: Self-reported EBPs are frequently endorsed by CA-HIV, and these problems are related to unique psychosocial factors. Including CA-HIV, self-report measures can assist in identifying problems that caregivers may not be aware of, particularly BPs.

Correspondence:
Leigh van den Heuvel
llvdh@sun.ac.za
luellaz@gmail.com

Note: A selected abstract from papers presented at the 19th National Congress of the South African Society of Psychiatrists in ‘Professional Psychiatric Practice: Medical, Socio-Economic & Cultural Perspectives’, 21–24 September 2018, at the CSIR, Pretoria, South Africa. The congress is hosted by South African Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP).