Mental health and other clinical and social characteristics of young mothers living with HIV in Zimbabwe: a mixed-methods study

Mupambireyi, Zivai, Simms, Victoria, Mavhu, Webster ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1881-4398, Mutasa, Concilia, Matsikire, Edward, Ricotta, April, Senzanje, Beula, Pierotti, Chiara, Mushavi, Angela, Willis, Nicola and Cowan, Frances ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3087-4422 (2025) 'Mental health and other clinical and social characteristics of young mothers living with HIV in Zimbabwe: a mixed-methods study'. AIDS Care. (In Press)

Text Mupambireyi et al. 2025. Mental health & other clinical and social characteristics of YMLHIV. AIDS Care.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (935kB)

Abstract

Young women living with HIV (YWLHIV) experience numerous stressors including treatment management and poor parent modelling. We investigated YWLHIV’s mental health and other clinical and social characteristics to inform tailored support. YWLHIV (15-24 years-old) participating in a peer-support model tailored for young mothers (Young Mentor Mum intervention) completed a self-administered interview and had clinical and psychological assessments March to April 2019. A subset participated in in-depth interviews and had their partners interviewed. We analysed quantitative and qualitative data using STATA 15 and thematic analysis, respectively. We enrolled 177 YWLHIV. We found high rates of maternal viral suppression (86.9% with viral load <1000 copies/ml). Over half were at risk of common mental disorder (CMD), scoring above the cut-off point (SSQ ≥8, 50.3%) and depression (EPDS ≥12, 55.9%). CMD risk was higher among women who reported intimate partner violence in the past year (64.1% vs 39.4%; adjusted OR 2.48 (1.12, 5.48) for violence 1-2 times and 2.41 (0.99-5.85) for higher frequency; p=0.03). HIV status disclosure was limited; only 44.1% had disclosed to their partners. YWLHIV confront challenges which affect their health and that of their children. Youth-focused mental health interventions coupled with couples counselling and violence prevention need to be scaled up

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	WA Public Health > WA 30 Socioeconomic factors in public health (General) WA Public Health > Health Problems of Special Population Groups > WA 310 Maternal welfare WC Communicable Diseases > Virus Diseases > Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. HIV Infections > WC 503 Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. HIV infections WC Communicable Diseases > Virus Diseases > Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. HIV Infections > WC 503.7 Psychosocial aspects
Faculty: Department:	Clinical Sciences & International Health > International Public Health Department
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1080/09540121.2025.2473948
Depositing User:	Rachel Dominguez
Date Deposited:	26 Mar 2025 14:27
Last Modified:	26 Mar 2025 14:27
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/26349

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