Tadesse Aweke, Huang Jin
Saint Louis University, 3550 Lindell Blvd., Tegeler Hall 309, St. Louis, MO 63103 USA.
Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63112 USA.
Glob Soc Welf. 2023;10(1):49-59. doi: 10.1007/s40609-022-00251-w. Epub 2022 Nov 2.
As one of the fastest growing community-based financial capability approaches, village savings and loan group (VSLG) is an organized group and formal entity that creates opportunities for participants to save and access financial assets. VSLG has potentially positive impacts on increasing women's financial resources and social support and further improves their mental health. Participation in a VSLG not only increases women's opportunities for asset-building and income generation, but also facilitates trust and promotes social capital development. However, few studies have examined the association between the VSLG participation and women's depression status. To fill the knowledge gap, we examined the association between the VSLG participation and depressive symptoms among low-income women in Mozambique.
The data was collected as part of the VSLG program evaluation. The study applied a posttest-only comparison group quasi-experimental design and sampled female VSLG participants and non-participants from three sub-villages in the Sofala province, Mozambique. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed, and a total of 205 women were randomly selected, including 105 VSLG participants and 100 non-participants. Depressive symptoms were measured using the short version of the Edinburgh Depression Scale (EDS) with a summative score ranging from 7 to 28. Using the cutoff value at a score of 14, we created a dichotomous depression indicator. Linear and logit models were used to examine the associations of the VSLG participation and the participation duration with the depression score and the presence of depression controlling for demographic variables.
The VSLG participants had a statistically lower mean depression score of 12.2 (SD = 4.4) compared to non-participants (15.0, SD = 4.0, < .001). The regression analysis suggested that the VSLG participants had a mean depression score of 2.7 lower than the non-participants ( < .001). Nearly 60% of the non-participants reported the presence of depression; however, this percentage is 31% for participants ( < .001). The multivariate logit model indicated the odds of the presence of depression for participants are .34 of that for non-participants. Similar results were obtained when the VSLG program duration was used as an independent variable.
Study findings showed a positive association between the VSLG participation and women's mental health. Future research should further explore the intervention mechanisms and assess how the VSLG participation affects women's mental health. Findings also provided important insights into developing community-based financial capability interventions to improve low-income women's mental health.
作为发展最快的基于社区的金融能力提升方法之一，乡村储蓄与贷款小组（VSLG）是一个有组织的团体和正式实体，为参与者创造储蓄和获取金融资产的机会。VSLG对增加女性的金融资源和社会支持具有潜在的积极影响，并进一步改善她们的心理健康。参与VSLG不仅增加了女性积累资产和创收的机会，还促进了信任并推动了社会资本的发展。然而，很少有研究探讨VSLG参与与女性抑郁状况之间的关联。为了填补这一知识空白，我们研究了莫桑比克低收入女性中VSLG参与与抑郁症状之间的关联。
数据收集作为VSLG项目评估的一部分。该研究采用了仅后测的比较组准实验设计，从莫桑比克索法拉省的三个小村庄中抽取了VSLG女性参与者和非参与者作为样本。采用多阶段抽样技术，共随机选取了205名女性，其中包括105名VSLG参与者和100名非参与者。使用爱丁堡抑郁量表（EDS）简版测量抑郁症状，总分范围为7至28分。以14分为临界值，我们创建了一个二分抑郁指标。使用线性模型和逻辑模型来检验VSLG参与及参与时长与抑郁评分以及控制人口统计学变量后的抑郁存在情况之间的关联。
与非参与者（均值15.0，标准差 = 4.0）相比，VSLG参与者的平均抑郁评分在统计学上更低，为12.2（标准差 = 4.4）（<0.001）。回归分析表明，VSLG参与者的平均抑郁评分比非参与者低2.7分（<0.001）。近60%的非参与者报告有抑郁症状；然而，参与者的这一比例为31%（<0.001）。多变量逻辑模型表明，参与者出现抑郁的几率是非参与者的0.34倍。当将VSLG项目时长用作自变量时，得到了类似的结果。
研究结果表明VSLG参与与女性心理健康之间存在正相关。未来的研究应进一步探索干预机制，并评估VSLG参与如何影响女性的心理健康。研究结果还为开发基于社区的金融能力干预措施以改善低收入女性的心理健康提供了重要见解。
