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Maternal capabilities-qualities of mothers that enable them to leverage skills and resources into child health-hold potential influence over mother's adoption of child caring practices, including infant and young child feeding. We developed a survey ( n = 195) that assessed the associations of 4 dimensions of maternal capabilities (social support, psychological health, decision making, and empowerment) with mothers' infant and young child feeding practices and children's nutritional status in Uganda. Maternal responses were converted to categorical subscales and an overall index. Scale reliability coefficients were moderate to strong (α range = 0.49 to 0.80). Mothers with higher social support scores were more likely to feed children according to the minimum meal frequency (odds ratio [OR] [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 1.38 [1.10, 1.73]), dietary diversity (OR [95% CI] = 1.56 [1.15, 2.11]), iron rich foods, (OR [95% CI] = 1.47 [1.14, 1.89]), and minimally acceptable diet (OR [95% CI] = 1.55 [1.10, 2.21]) indicators. Empowerment was associated with a greater likelihood of feeding a minimally diverse and acceptable diet. The maternal capabilities index was significantly associated with feeding the minimum number of times per day (OR [95% CI] = 1.29 [1.03, 1.63]), dietary diversity (OR [95% CI] = 1.44 [1.06, 1.94]), and minimally acceptable diet (OR [95% CI] = 1.43 [1.01, 2.01]). Mothers with higher psychological satisfaction were more likely to have a stunted child (OR [95% CI] = 1.31 [1.06, 1.63]). No other associations between the capabilities scales and child growth were significant. Strengthening social support for mothers and expanding overall maternal capabilities hold potential for addressing important underlying determinants of child feeding in the Ugandan context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The primary goal of this analysis was to examine the influence of depression above and beyond the effects of HIV treatment on work activity and function. Methods: We combined data from three longitudinal studies of patients starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) and/or entering HIV care in Uganda. Assessments were conducted at baseline and months 6 and 12. The nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used to assess depressive symptoms, as well as Major (scores >9) and Minor (scores 5-9) Depression status; work functioning was assessed using a subscale of the Medical Outcomes Study HIV Health Survey (MOS-HIV). Multivariate random-effects logistic regression models for longitudinal data were used to examine the impact of treatment on work status and optimal work functioning, with measures of both baseline and change in physical health functioning, cognitive functioning and depression in the models, controlling for baseline demographics, and CD4 cell count. Results: The sample of 1,731 participants consisted of 1,204 starting ART and 527 not yet eligible for ART. At baseline, 35 % were not working, and 37 % had sub-optimal work functioning. Intention-to-treat analyses revealed that those on ART experienced greater improvement in both work outcomes over 12 months relative to non-ART patients, and that baseline and change in physical health functioning, continuous and categorical depression were all independently associated with improvement in both work outcomes, even after accounting for the direct effect of ART. Conclusions: Improvement in physical and mental health plays a key role in the positive impact of HIV treatment on work activity and function, suggesting potential economic benefits of integrating depression treatment into HIV care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, affect approximately 16% of pregnant women in low- and middle-income countries. Food insecurity (FI) has been shown to be associated with depressive symptoms. It has also been suggested that the association between FI and depressive symptoms is moderated by social support (SS); however, there is limited evidence of these associations among pregnant women living in low-income and middle-income countries. We studied the association between FI and depressive symptoms severity and assessed whether such an association varied among Ugandan pregnant women with low vs. high SS. Cross-sectional data were collected among 403 pregnant women in northern Uganda. SS was assessed using an eight-item version of the Duke-UNC functional SS scale. FI and depressive symptoms were assessed by, respectively, the individually focused FI scale and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale. Women were categorized into two SS groups, based on scoring < or ≥ to the median SS value. Multivariate linear regression models indicated an independent association between FI and depressive symptoms severity. The association between FI and depressive symptoms severity was moderated by SS i.e. was stronger among women in the low SS category (adjusted beta (95%CI): 0.91 (0.55; 1.27)) than for women belonging to the high SS group (0.53 (0.28; 0.78)) (adjusted p value for interaction = 0.026). There is need for longitudinal or interventional studies among pregnant women living in northern Uganda or similar contexts to examine the temporal sequence of the associations among food insecurity, depressive symptoms severity and social support. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]