Caregiver mental health and HIV-infected child wellness: perspectives from Ugandan caregivers

ABSTRACT

Prior studies indicate a substantial link between maternal depression and early child health but give limited consideration to the direction of this relationship or the context in which it occurs. We sought to create a contextually informed conceptual framework of this relationship through semi-structured interviews with women that had lived experience of caring for an HIV-infected child while coping with depression and anxiety symptoms. Caregivers explained their role in raising healthy children as complex and complicated by poverty, stigma, and isolation. Caregivers discussed the effects of their own mental health on child well-being as primarily emotional and behavioral, and explained how looking after a child could bring distress, particularly when unable to provide desired care for sick children. Our findings suggest the need for investigation of the reciprocal effects of child sickness on caregiver wellness and for integrated programs that holistically address the needs of HIV-affected families.

KEYWORDS:

• HIV
• mental health
• child health
• Uganda
• qualitative

Acknowledgements

The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. We sincerely thank Opoya Geoffrey, Opio Emmanuel, Ekapel Lillian, and Odoi Andrew for conducting the qualitative interviews. Without the hard work and support of the Global Health Uganda staff, this project would not have been possible. We would like to give particular thanks to Fiona Namawanja for her input and review of the manuscript. In addition, we are extremely grateful for the time participants gave for this project and their willingness to share their stories.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

S. M. Murray http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4976-9713

Additional information

Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by NICHD of the National Institutes of Health under award number [R01HD070723]; the Johns Hopkins Sommer Scholar program; and Sarah Murray was supported by NIMH of the National Institutes of Health under award numbers [F31MH099959] and [T32MH10321].