Table 1.
Descriptive statistics of sample and variables of interest
| Orphans | Non-orphans | Total | Statistical test | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Adolescent characteristics: |
|
|
|
|
| Mean age (SD) |
14.60 (1.94) |
14.67 (2.02) |
14.64 (1.99) |
t (619) = 0.43, p = 0.67 |
| Gender |
|
|
|
|
| Male |
93 (31.2%) |
203 (68.8%) |
298 (51.6%) |
χ2 (1) = 0.03, p < 0.05 |
| Female |
112 (40%) |
168 (60%) |
280 (48.4%) |
|
| Orphan status (%) |
226 (36.3) |
397 (63.7) |
623 (100) |
|
| Orphan type: |
|
|
|
|
| Maternal (%) |
76 (34.9) |
|
|
|
| Paternal (%) |
92 (42.2) |
|
|
|
| Double (%) |
50 (22.9) |
|
|
|
| Household type: |
|
|
|
|
| Orphan (%) |
|
|
153 (24.6) |
|
| Non orphan (%) |
|
|
336 (53.9) |
|
| Mixed (%) |
|
|
134 (21.5) |
|
|
Poverty related indicators: |
|
|
|
|
| Monthly income per capita (Poverty threshold = 37.5USD per capita per month) |
$36.32 ($57.80) |
$40.32 ($62.59) |
$38.87 ($60.88) |
t(599) = 0.77, p = 0.44 |
| Monthly Household income (incl grants) |
R1893.44 (R1672.76) |
R1969.96 (R2128.10) |
R1942.13 (R1973.54) |
t(600) = 0.46, p = 0.65 |
|
Household composition: |
|
|
|
|
| Total household inhabitants (M, SD) |
7.83 (3.73) |
7.37 (3.35) |
7.54 (3.49) |
t (620) = -1.59, p = 0.12 |
| Number of adults in household (M, SD) |
3.19 (1.82) |
3.26 (1.82) |
3.24 (1.18) |
t (620) = 0.51, p = 0.61 |
| Number of children in household |
4.62 (2.53) |
4.10 (2.20) |
4.29 (2.34) |
t (620) = -2.70, p <0.01 |
| Dependency ratio (%) |
|
|
|
|
| Care for child plus 1 – 2 more children |
59 (28.9) |
131 (36.1) |
190 (33.5) |
χ2 (3) = 6.70, p = 0.08 |
| Care for child plus 3 – 4 more children |
66 (32.4) |
127 (35.0) |
193 (34.0) |
|
| Care for child plus 5 – 6 more children |
47 (23.0) |
68 (18.7) |
115 (20.3) |
|
| Care for child plus 7 or more children |
32 (15.7) |
37 (10.2) |
69 (12.2) |
|
|
Caregiver characteristics: |
|
|
|
|
| Primary caregiver |
|
|
|
χ
2
(6) = 110.25, p < 0.00 |
| Biological mother |
52 (23.4%) |
251 (63.7%) |
303 (49.2%) |
|
| Biological father |
6 (2.7%) |
22 (5.6%) |
28 (4.5%) |
|
| Aunt |
33 (14.9%) |
20 (5.1%) |
53 (8.6%) |
|
| Uncle |
5 (2.3%) |
2 (0.5%) |
7 (1.1%) |
|
| Grandmother |
105 (47.3%) |
75 (19.0%) |
180 (29.2%) |
|
| Grandfather |
5 (2.3%) |
7 (1.8%) |
12 (1.9%) |
|
| Other |
16 (17.2%) |
17 (4.3%) |
33 (5.4%) |
|
| Communication with caregivers about problems |
|
|
|
χ2 (2) = 3.5, p = 0.17 |
| Never |
20 (9.3) |
32 (8.1) |
52 (8.5) |
|
| Sometimes |
83 (38.4) |
125 (31.7) |
208 (34.1) |
|
| Always |
113 (52.3) |
237 (60.2) |
350 (57.4) |
|
| Caregiver impairment over the past month◊ |
|
|
|
χ2 (1) = 3.67, p = 0.06 |
| Yes |
128 (57.9) |
196 (49.9) |
324 (52.8) |
|
| No |
93 (42.1) |
197 (50.1) |
290 (47.2) |
|
| Caregiver self-reported health |
|
|
|
χ2 (3) = 4.45, p = 0.22 |
| Poor |
117 (52.7) |
176 (44.7) |
293 (47.6) |
|
| Fair |
25 (11.3) |
50 (12.7) |
75 (12.2) |
|
| Good |
68 (30.6) |
135 (34.3) |
203 (33.0) |
|
| Excellent |
12 (5.4) |
33 (8.4) |
45 (7.3) |
|
| Caregiver provision of help and assistance |
|
|
|
χ2 (2) = 4.72, p = 0.09 |
| Never |
9 (4.2) |
8 (2.0) |
17 (2.8) |
|
| Sometimes |
76 (35.3) |
118 (30.0) |
194 (31.9) |
|
| Always |
130 (60.5) |
267 (67.9) |
397 (65.3) |
|
|
Psychosocial outcomes: |
|
|
|
|
| Anxiety/Depression |
36.43 (9.80) |
35.80 (10.07) |
36.03 (9.96) |
t (614) = -0.76, p = 0.45 |
| Affability |
35.86 (5.34) |
36.54 (5.69) |
36.30 (5.57) |
t (618) = 1.46, p = 0.15 |
| Resilience | 23.47 (3.62) | 23.56 (4.03) | 23.53 (3.89) | t (272) = 0.27, p = 0.79 |
Note: missing values not included.
◊ This question item was phrased as, “during the past 30 days were you unable to perform your most important activity for an entire day because of problems with your physical or mental health?”.