Association between caregiver depression symptoms and child executive functioning. Results from an observational study carried out in four sub-Saharan countries

• Published in: AIDS care Vol. 32; no. 4; pp. 486 - 494
• Main Authors: Familiar, Itziar, Chernoff, Miriam, Ruisenor-Escudero, Horacio, Laughton, Barbara, Joyce, Celeste, Fairlie, Lee, Vhembo, Tichaona, Kamthunzi, Portia, Barlow-Barlow, Linda, Zimmer, Bonnie, McCarthy, Katie, Boivin, Michael J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 02-04-2020; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Adult; AIDS/HIV; Anti-Retroviral Agents - therapeutic use; Caregivers; Caregivers - psychology; Caregiving; Child; Child development; child neuropsychology; Child, Preschool; Children; Children & youth; Children with disabilities; Cognition; Competence; Cost of Illness; Depression - diagnosis; Depression - epidemiology; Executive function; Executive Function - physiology; Executive functioning; Female; HIV; HIV Infections - complications; HIV Infections - drug therapy; HIV Infections - epidemiology; HIV/AIDS; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Malawi - epidemiology; Male; Mental depression; Middle Aged; Neurocognitive Disorders - epidemiology; Observational studies; South Africa - epidemiology; sub-Saharan Africa; Symptoms; Uganda - epidemiology; Women; Zimbabwe - epidemiology; South Africa; Uganda; Zimbabwe; Malawi; HIV/AIDS; sub-Saharan Africa; Executive functioning; child neuropsychology
• ISSN: 0954-0121; 1360-0451
• DOI: 10.1080/09540121.2019.1659917

Depressive symptoms among HIV-positive (HIV+) women may negatively impact their health and possibly that of their young children through risk of compromised caregiving. We evaluated how depression symptoms in predominantly (97%) female caregivers relate to neurodevelopmental outcomes in their HIV affected children. Data come from the IMPAACT P1104s Study, an observational cohort across six sites in four countries: Zimbabwe, South Africa, Uganda and Malawi. Participants (n = 611) were 5-11-year-old children with HIV (HIV), HIV exposed uninfected (HEU), or HIV unexposed uninfected (HUU). Primary caregivers were assessed for depression with the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL) and children with Behavior Rating Inventory for Executive Function (BRIEF) parent-report, Kauffman Assessment Battery for Children II (KABC), Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency 2nd Ed. (BOT-2), Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA), Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey, Child Disability and Development scales (MICS-4). Caregivers with higher depression scores (>1.75 mean HSCL score) reported more executive function problems in their children, regardless of HIV status. All executive function scores were significantly (p < 0.001) associated with depressive symptomatology at baseline and across time. Caregiver depressive symptomatology was not associated with other assessed neurocognitive outcomes. These results highlight the potential impact of caregiver depression on child behavioral outcomes.