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Children of the postwar years: A two-generational multilevel risk assessment of child psychopathology in northern Uganda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 November 2015

Regina Saile ,
Verena Ertl ,
Frank Neuner  and
Claudia Catani
Regina Saile*
Affiliation:
Bielefeld University and Vivo International
Verena Ertl
Affiliation:
Bielefeld University and Vivo International
Frank Neuner
Affiliation:
Bielefeld University and Vivo International
Claudia Catani
Affiliation:
Bielefeld University and Vivo International
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Regina Saile, Bielefeld University, Ravensbergerstrasse 87, 33602 Bielefeld, Germany; E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

In postconflict settings risk factors at multiple levels of the social ecology, including community, family, and relationship factors, potentially affect children's mental health. In addition, intergenerational risk factors such as guardians’ history of childhood family violence, war exposure, and psychopathology may contribute to children's psychopathological symptoms. In this study, we aimed to identify risk constellations that predict child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, depression, and posttraumatic stress symptoms in the postconflict setting of northern Uganda. In a cross-sectional epidemiological study, 513 second-grade students and their female guardians were interviewed using standardized clinical questionnaires. A higher exposure to traumatic events, more witnessed or experienced violence within the family, and lower child-reported care from female guardians independently predicted psychopathological symptoms in children. While controlling for intergenerational risk factors in female guardians, serial mediation modeling revealed that the effect of trauma exposure on children's psychopathological symptoms was partially mediated by higher exposure to family violence and lower child-perceived care from female guardians. The mediation appeared to be stronger for children's depression symptoms and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems than for posttraumatic stress symptoms. The current findings support the need for targeted interventions at the individual and family system levels that are matched to children's psychopathological symptoms.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , May 2016 , pp. 607 - 620
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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