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Epidemiological patterns and correlates of mental disorders among orphans and vulnerable children under institutional care

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Abstract

Purpose

The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence, comorbidity and socio-demographic correlates of common mental disorders among orphan and vulnerable children (OVCs) in residential care.

Methods

The Youth Self Report (YSR) instrument was adapted for use and administered to 630 OVCs aged 10–18 years in four institutions operating within the Eastern province of Kenya. We estimated the prevalence of YSR syndromes and used logistic regression analyses to examine socio-demographic factors associated with each disorder.

Results

The prevalence of any mental disorder according to YSR syndrome scale was 30.8% (95% CI 27.1–34.6). Female gender and older children were less likely to be associated with risk of scoring in the clinical range of the mental disorders. The presence of multiple mental problems was seen among 16.7% of the children. Of the 16.7%, 5.6% had one comorbid mental disorder and 11.1% had three to eight mental disorders.

Conclusion

We found a high prevalence of mental disorders and co-occurring disorders among the OVCs in residential institutions in Kenya. There is need for an alternative approach that can reach out to critical numbers of children for screening and public health, rather than purely clinical approach. The capacity for these institutions should also be regulated and more efforts focusing on improving the quality of care in the facilities taken into account at all times.

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Acknowledgements

This work is based on a Ph.D. Thesis in clinical psychology by the first author at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Nairobi and supervised by DMN, Muthoni Mathai and Kamaldeep Bhui. It was funded by the Africa Mental Health Foundation (AMHF) research support fund.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Africa Mental Health Foundation (AMHF), Mawensi Road, Off Elgon Road, Mawensi Garden, P.O. Box 48423-0010, Nairobi, Kenya

    Victoria N. Mutiso, Christine W. Musyimi, Albert Tele & David M. Ndetei

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 19676-00200, Nairobi, Kenya

    David M. Ndetei

  3. Division of Global Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA

    David M. Ndetei

Authors
  1. Victoria N. Mutiso
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  2. Christine W. Musyimi
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  3. Albert Tele
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  4. David M. Ndetei
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Victoria N. Mutiso.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no competing interests with respect to publication of this manuscript. VM contextualized the ideas and directed the manuscript. CM and AT assisted in the analysis of the data and DM exercised oversight. All the authors declare that the submitted work has not been published before and work is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Ethical standards

Ethical approval was obtained from the Kenyatta National Hospital/University of Nairobi Research and ethics committee. All parents/guardians gave their informed consent prior to inclusion of their children in the study. All children who participated in the study gave their informed assent prior to inclusion in the study. The study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments and in line with the provisions of Chapter 4 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010.

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N. Mutiso, V., W. Musyimi, C., Tele, A. et al. Epidemiological patterns and correlates of mental disorders among orphans and vulnerable children under institutional care. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 52, 65–75 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1291-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1291-7

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