The impact of common mental disorders among caregivers living with HIV on child cognitive development in Zimbabwe

Mebrahtu, Helen, Sherr, Lorraine, Simms, Victoria, Weiss, Helen A., Chingono, Rudo, Rehman, Andrea M., Ndlovu, Patience and Cowan, Frances ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3087-4422 (2020) 'The impact of common mental disorders among caregivers living with HIV on child cognitive development in Zimbabwe'. AIDS Care, Vol 32, Issue supplement 2, 198 -205.

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Abstract

This paper aimed to assess the impact of maternal common mental disorders (CMD) among caregivers living with HIV on the cognitive functioning of their child. Data were collected at baseline and 12 months follow-up from mother–child dyads recruited as part of an ongoing trial in Zimbabwe. Symptoms of CMD were assessed using the Shona Symptom Questionnaire. Mixed-effects linear regression was used to assess child cognitive scores at follow-up (using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning) in relation to caregiver CMD prevalence over 12 months. At baseline, caregivers reporting CMD (n = 230; 40.1%) were less likely to have completed higher education (46.9% vs. 56.9%; p = 0.02), more likely to be unmarried (27.8% vs. 16.0%; p < 0.01), and experience food insecurity (50.0% vs. 29.4%; p < 0.01) compared to the group without CMD (n = 344). There were 4 CMD patterns over time: (i) Emerging CMD (n = 101; 19.7% of caregivers) defined as those who were below the cut-off at baseline, and above it at 12 months; (ii) Improving CMD (n = 76; 14.8%) defined as those who reported CMD at baseline, and were below the cut-off by follow-up; (iii) No CMD (n = 206; 40.1%) defined as those who did not report CMD symptoms at either time point; and (iv) Chronic CMD (n = 131; 25.5%) defined as those who reported CMD above the cut-off at both time points. Children of caregivers with chronic CMD (n = 131, 25.5%) had lower receptive language scores (aMD:−2.81, 95%CI −5.1 to −0.6; p = 0.05) compared to the reference group with no CMD (n = 206, 40.1%). Exposure to caregiver CMD over a prolonged period may affect child receptive vocabulary skills.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	WA Public Health > Health Problems of Special Population Groups > WA 395 Health in developing countries WC Communicable Diseases > Virus Diseases > Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. HIV Infections > WC 503 Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. HIV infections WM Psychiatry > WM 100 General works WM Psychiatry > WM 140 Mental disorders (General) WS Pediatrics > WS 100 General works WY Nursing > WY 153 Communicable disease nursing
Faculty: Department:	Clinical Sciences & International Health > International Public Health Department
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1080/09540121.2020.1739216
Depositing User:	Stacy Murtagh
Date Deposited:	23 Mar 2020 10:57
Last Modified:	14 Mar 2021 02:02
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/14045

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