Peer-reviewed article
The Relationship Between Family Cohesion and Depression Among School-Going Children With Elevated Symptoms of Behavioral Challenges in Southern Uganda
Josephine Nabayinda, Samuel Kizito, Vicent Ssentumbwe, Phionah Namatovu, Ozge Sensoy Bahar et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how family cohesion relates to depression in 626 school children aged 8-13 with behavioral challenges in southern Uganda. Researchers found that stronger family cohesion was protective against depression, as was owning essential items. Children who were single orphans or had both parents present showed unexpected associations with depression. The findings suggest that strengthening family relationships could help reduce depression in children facing behavioral challenges.
Key points
- Family cohesion was significantly protective against depression (β = -0.03, p < .001)
- Mean depression score among the sample was 3.2 out of 15
- Owning essential items by the child was also protective against depression (β = -0.13, p = .005)
- Being a single orphan and having both parents were both associated with depression, suggesting complex family structures affect child mental health
- The study recommends developing programs to strengthen family relationships as an intervention for child depression
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional analysis that cannot establish causation between family cohesion and depression. The study only included children with elevated behavioral challenges in one region of Uganda, so findings may not generalize to all Ugandan children or other contexts.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Depression is among the leading causes of disability and contributes significantly to the overall disease burden affecting children. Family cohesion has been identified as a protective factor against depression. Examining this relationship is necessary in sub-Saharan Africa, specifically in Uganda-a country characterized by a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, and high rates of chronic poverty, all of which stress family functioning and elevate child behavioral challenges. This study examined the relationship between family cohesion and depression among school-going children with elevated symptoms of behavioral challenges in southern Uganda. METHODS: At baseline, 2089 children were enrolled in the National Institutes of Health-funded Strengthening Mental Health and Research Training Africa study in Southwestern Uganda. This article analyzed data from 626 children aged 8-13 years with elevated behavioral challenges. We conducted multilevel mixed-effects Poisson regression to determine the association between family cohesion and depression. We controlled for sociodemographic and household characteristics. RESULTS: The mean age was 10.3 years. The overall mean depression score was 3.2 (standard deviation = 2.7, range = 0-15). Family cohesion (β = -0.03, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.04, -0.02, p < .001) and owning essential items by the child (β = -0.13, 95% CI: -0.23, -0.04, p = .005) were protective against depression among children. Additionally, we observed being a single orphan (β = -0.44, 95% CI: -0.03, -0.86, p = .036) and having both parents (β = -0.43, 95% CI: -0.06, -0.81, p = .023) were associated with depression among children. DISCUSSION: Findings from this study reveal that family cohesion was protective against depression. Therefore, it is vital to strengthen family support systems by developing programs aimed at strengthening family relationships as a catalyst for addressing depression among children.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Strengthening family cohesion and family support systems through unspecified programs aimed at strengthening family relationships
- Population
- 626 school-going children aged 8-13 years with elevated behavioral challenges in southwestern Uganda
Key finding
Family cohesion was significantly protective against depression (β = -0.03, 95% CI: -0.04, -0.02, p < .001)
Nabayinda et al. · Prof. Fred M. Ssewamala (OpenAlex works) · 14 Apr 2023