What stigma and unmet needs do Ethiopian caregivers report?
Among 102 Addis Ababa caregivers of children with ID or autism, about 43–45% reported differential treatment or shame, stigma was higher with traditional help-seeking, and 74.5% said educational provision was their biggest unmet need.
Source
Stigma, explanatory models and unmet needs of caregivers of children with developmental disorders in a low-income African country: a cross-sectional facility-based survey
Study at a glance
- Design
- Cross-sectional — Facility-based interviewer-administered survey of caregivers at two child mental health clinics in Addis Ababa
- N
- N=102 · 102 caregivers; 68 children with intellectual disability (66.7%) and 34 with ASD (33.3%)
- Population
- Caregivers of children with developmental disorders attending clinics in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Outcome
- Stigma (Family Interview Schedule), explanatory models, unmet needs, and coping
Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.
What they did
Interviewed 102 caregivers at two child mental health clinics with an adapted Family Interview Schedule plus questions on causes, interventions, coping, and open-ended unmet needs.
What they found
43.1% worried about being treated differently, 45.1% felt ashamed, 26.7% hid the condition. Stigma was unrelated to diagnosis/age/education (all p > 0.05) but higher if caregivers sought traditional help (p < 0.01) or gave supernatural explanations (p = .02). Causes mixed head injury (30.4%) with spirit possession (40.2%); 74.5% needed education for the child.
The limits
What it doesn't show
A clinic convenience sample in one city cannot estimate national prevalence of stigma, and the cross-sectional design cannot prove traditional help-seeking causes stigma.
Key terms
- Family Interview Schedule
- Adapted structured interview used here to index caregiver stigma.
- Intellectual disability (ID)
- Primary diagnosis for 66.7% (n = 68) of the children.
- ASD
- Autism spectrum disorder; primary diagnosis for 33.3% (n = 34).
- Explanatory model
- Caregiver beliefs about cause, mixing biomedical and supernatural accounts.
- Courtesy stigma
- Stigma directed at family members because of the child’s condition.
- Unmet educational need
- 74.5% ranked schooling/education as the largest unmet need.
Flashcards
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Quiz yourself
Caregivers numbered:
Common questions
How many caregivers?
102 at two Addis Ababa child mental health clinics.
Child diagnoses?
66.7% ID (n = 68) and 33.3% ASD (n = 34).
Biggest unmet need?
Educational provision (74.5%).
When was stigma higher?
After traditional help-seeking (p < 0.01) and supernatural explanations (p = .02).
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