Neglect and perceived stigmatization impact psychological distress of orphans in Tanzania

Figures & data

Table 1 Descriptive statistics and group comparisons between orphans and non-orphans

	Orphans^a		Non-orphans^b
Outcome variables	M	SD	M	SD	F ^c	η ^2
Neglect types	1.54	1.80	0.52	0.93	22.60**	0.11
Abuse types	3.46	1.50	3.39	1.66	0.08	<0.001
UCLA score	7.96	10.77	2.90	6.42	14.53**	0.08
CDI score	8.22	5.63	5.49	4.03	13.84**	0.07
RPQ score	9.89	6.39	7.49	5.31	7.39*	0.04
Total difficulties score	10.53	5.50	10.15	5.28	0.22	<0.001

UCLA, UCLA PTSD Reaction Index for DSM-IV; CDI, Children's Depression Inventory; RPQ, Reactive–Proactive Questionnaire; Total Difficulties Score, Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. M, mean; SD, Standard deviation; F, test statistic of ANOVA; η ², effect size eta squared. ^a n=89, ^b n=89, ^c n=178; α=0.0125 according to Bonferroni-correction. *p≤0.01, *p≤0.001.

Table 2 Sequential regression models on orphans’ psychological distress

	Outcome variables
Predictor variables	B	SE B	β	t
Internalizing and externalizing problems ^a
Step 1
Abuse types	1.21	0.57	0.23	2.12*
Neglect types	1.59	0.49	0.35	3.26**
Step 2
Abuse types	1.08	0.50	0.20	2.17*
Neglect types	1.47	0.42	0.33	3.48***
Stigmatization	2.46	0.48	0.45	5.08***
Step 3
Abuse types	1.07	0.50	0.20	2.18*
Neglect types	1.40	0.42	0.31	3.33***
Stigmatization	2.20	0.51	0.40	4.36***
Neglect×stigmatization	0.66	0.41	0.15	1.63
Depression symptom severity ^b
Step 1
Abuse types	0.39	0.59	0.07	0.66
Neglect types	2.07	0.50	0.45	4.13***
Step 2
Abuse types	0.30	0.56	0.06	0.54
Neglect types	1.99	0.48	0.43	4.18***
Stigmatization	1.70	0.54	0.30	3.12**
Step 3
Abuse types	0.28	0.53	0.05	0.53
Neglect types	1.84	0.45	0.40	4.07***
Stigmatization	1.15	0.54	0.20	2.13*
Neglect×stigmatization	1.38	0.44	0.31	3.17**

N=79. ^aSDQ Total Difficulties Score of orphans; final model (step 2): adj. R ²=0.41, F(1, 75)=18.74, p<0.001, f ²=0.68; ^bCDI sum score of orphans; final model (step 3): adj. R ²=0.36, F(4, 74)=12.16, p<0.001, f ²=0.57. Abuse types, z-standardized sum score of experienced abuse types; Neglect types, z-standardized sum score of experienced abuse types; Stigmatization, z-standardized sum score of stigmatization items; B, unstandardized regression weight; SE, standard error; β, standardized regression weight; t, t-test statistics. *p≤0.05. **p≤0.01. ***p≤0.001.

Fig. 1 Moderating effect of perceived stigmatization (low: −1 SD; high: +1 SD) on the relationship between neglect types and depressive symptom severity.