International Center for Child Health and Development, Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri.
Boston College, School of Social Work, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
J Adolesc Health. 2023 May;72(5S):S51-S58. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.01.002.
Children orphaned by AIDS are more likely to have psychological and emotional problems compared to their counterparts. Poverty resulting from orphanhood is linked to the negative psychological outcomes experienced by AIDS-orphaned adolescents. No studies have investigated the impact of an economic empowerment intervention on child psychological and emotional problems and prosocial behavior. Therefore, we aimed to examine the impact of a family economic empowerment intervention on psychological difficulties and prosocial behavior among AIDS-orphaned adolescents.
We analyzed data from a two-arm cluster randomized controlled trial conducted in 10 primary schools in southern Uganda. Schools were randomized to either bolstered usual care (n = 5 schools; 167 participants) or a family-economic empowerment intervention (Suubi-Maka; n = 5 schools; 179 individuals). We used t-test and multi-level mixed effects models to examine the impact of Suubi-Maka on psychological and behavioral outcomes.
No differences were observed between intervention and control groups in almost all the outcomes at baseline, 12 months, and 24 months. Simple main effects comparisons of 12 months versus baseline within each condition indicate modest to significant declines in emotional symptoms, hyperactivity, peer relationships (Δs = -1.00 to -2.11, all p < .001), and total difficulties (Δs = -4.85 to -4.89, both p < .001) across both groups.
Our analysis found no meaningful difference between intervention and control groups in child psychological difficulties and prosocial behavior postintervention. However, improvements were observed across both control and treatment groups following the intervention. Future studies should investigate the impact of different components of the intervention.
艾滋病孤儿比同龄人更有可能出现心理和情感问题。由于成为孤儿而导致的贫困与艾滋病孤儿青少年经历的负面心理后果有关。目前尚无研究调查经济赋权干预对儿童心理和情感问题及亲社会行为的影响。因此，我们旨在研究家庭经济赋权干预对艾滋病孤儿青少年心理困难和亲社会行为的影响。
我们对在乌干达南部 10 所小学进行的一项 2 臂整群随机对照试验的数据进行了分析。学校被随机分为强化常规护理组（n=5 所学校；167 名参与者）或家庭经济赋权干预组（Suubi-Maka；n=5 所学校；179 人）。我们使用 t 检验和多级混合效应模型来检验 Suubi-Maka 对心理和行为结果的影响。
在基线、12 个月和 24 个月时，干预组和对照组在几乎所有结果上均无差异。在每个条件下，12 个月与基线的简单主效应比较表明，两组的情绪症状、多动、同伴关系（Δs=-1.00 至-2.11，均 p<0.001）和总困难（Δs=-4.85 至-4.89，均 p<0.001）均有适度至显著下降。
我们的分析发现，干预组和对照组在干预后儿童心理困难和亲社会行为方面没有明显差异。然而，干预后两组都观察到了改善。未来的研究应该调查干预不同组成部分的影响。
