Understanding factors that moderate the relationship between family poverty and depression among adolescents aged 10 to 16 years in rural Malawi
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Date
2021-06-16
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Kamuzu University of Health Sciences
Abstract
Study type: Cross-sectional study design
Problem:
Adolescence is a critical stage in human development where physical, cognitive and psychosocial growth takes place. The developmental changes that take place during adolescence influences an individual for the rest of their life. Most mental health disorders,including depression, begin to make significant appearance in a human being during adolescence phase. An estimated 10–20% of adolescents globally experience mental health conditions. Depressive disorders are among the top three leading causes of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) among adolescents in the world. In Malawi, it is estimated that depression affects 16.9% of adolescents aged 10 to 16 years old. Household poverty has been linked to adolescents’ depression; however, most of the studies on poverty as determinants of adolescence depression have been conducted in high-income countries where poverty is measured by current income. It is not well known if household poverty is associated with adolescence depression in lower-income countries where poverty is easily measured by alternative methodologies like household wealth index. Additionally, studies across the globe have linked development adolescence depression to exposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). However, the combined effect of ACEs and household poverty on adolescence depression is not well known. The objectives of this study are (1) to determine if household poverty is associated with adolescence depression and (2) to determine the
combined effect of household poverty and ACEs on adolescence depression.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study which will use secondary data from the Malawi
Longitudinal Study for Families and Health (MLSFH)- Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)
study. MLSFH is a longitudinal cohort study implemented since 1998 in the districts of
Rumphi, Ntchisi and Balaka, which provides decades of data on demographics, health
conditions and socio-economic status. This study will use a total sample of 2089 adolescents and 1453 adolescents’ caregivers from the MLSFH-ACE study. The study will use pro-forma to extract Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), ACEs and household wealth data from the MLSFH
ACE database. Logistic regression will be used to measure the association of household wealth
index and depression as well as to measure if ACEs moderate the relationship between
household wealth and adolescence depression.
Expected findings and dissemination: This study will determine if household wealth index is associated with adolescence depression in low-income countries. Additionally, the study will determine if ACE exposure has an effect on the relationship between household wealth and adolescence depression. Results will be presented to College of Medicine and COMREC. In addition, the findings will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
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Keywords
Relationship between family poverty and depression