Purpose

This study aims to examine the short-term impact of a combined intervention consisting of evidence-based family economic empowerment (FEE) and multiple family group (MFG) interventions on depressive symptoms among school-going adolescent girls in southwestern Uganda.

Methods

We analyzed longitudinal data from a cluster randomized trial. The sample consisted of 1,260 adolescent girls (aged 14–17 years at enrollment) recruited from senior one and senior two classes across 47 secondary schools in the southwestern region of Uganda. Participants were randomized at the school level to either the control condition receiving bolstered standard of care or one of the two treatment conditions—the treatment one condition receiving the FEE intervention or the treatment two conditions receiving both the FEE plus MFG interventions. Descriptive statistics and a three-level mixed-effects model were conducted to examine the effect of a combination intervention on depressive symptoms.

Results

At baseline, there were no significant differences between the control condition and both treatment conditions. While all three groups experienced a substantial reduction in depressive symptoms from baseline to 12 months, the reductions were stronger for the two intervention groups. However, FEE + MFG was not significantly different from FEE at 12 months.

Discussion

Results imply that the FEE intervention may be a promising tool in addressing depressive symptoms among adolescent girls. Therefore, to reduce the long-term implications of adverse psychosocial health during adolescence, policymakers and program implementers should explore scaling up economic empowerment interventions in similar settings to bridge the mental health treatment gap for adolescent girls.

中文翻译：

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联合干预对乌干达西南部在校少女抑郁症状的短期影响：Suubi4Her 整群随机试验

目的

本研究旨在检验由循证家庭经济赋权 (FEE) 和多家庭小组 (MFG) 干预组成的联合干预对乌干达西南部在校少女抑郁症状的短期影响。

方法

我们分析了一项整群随机试验的纵向数据。样本包括从乌干达西南部地区 47 所中学的高一和高二班招募的 1,260 名少女（入学时年龄在 14-17 岁）。参与者在学校层面被随机分配到接受加强标准护理的对照条件或两种治疗条件之一——接受 FEE 干预的治疗一种条件或接受 FEE 加 MFG 干预的两种治疗条件。进行了描述性统计和三级混合效应模型，以检查联合干预对抑郁症状的影响。

结果

在基线时，对照条件和两种治疗条件之间没有显着差异。虽然从基线到 12 个月，所有三组的抑郁症状都有显着减少，但两个干预组的减少幅度更大。然而，FEE + MFG 在 12 个月时与 FEE 没有显着差异。

讨论

结果表明，FEE 干预可能是解决青春期女孩抑郁症状的有前途的工具。因此，为了减少青春期不良社会心理健康的长期影响，政策制定者和项目实施者应探索在类似环境中扩大经济赋权干预措施，以弥合青春期女孩的心理健康治疗差距。