Enhancing Self-esteem Among Orphaned And Vulnerable Young Adolescents Affected By AIDS In Rural Uganda: Do Assets Matter?

Purpose

In Uganda alone, there are over 2 million AIDS-related orphans with numbers expected to increase by annually. While typical orphan care programs offer immediate services to meet basic needs of orphans, the SUUBI (hope) program in Uganda provides institutional opportunities for economic empowerment and self-efficacy. The SUUBI program involves creating asset-building opportunities and life options for children ages 12-15 orphaned as a result of AIDS. Children in the SUUBI program are facilitated to open a savings account—called children development account (CDA)—for post-primary education or for microenterprise development. The CDA is a matched savings account.

The SUUBI program also offers an important opportunity to explore the relationship between asset accumulation and children's mental health functioning. In this regard, the study aims to examine the extent to which the economic intervention program being tested by SUUBI influences self-esteem among children orphaned as a result of AIDS.

Methods

The sample of this study was 286 children orphaned due to AIDS. Children were selected from 15 primary schools in Rakai District, an area of Uganda that has been hardest hit by AIDS. While 138 children from 9 schools were assigned to the experimental group, 148 children from the other 6 schools were in the control group. The SUUBI program employed a longitudinal design with one survey conducted at baseline (Wave 1) and another conducted at 10 months following the baseline (Wave 2).

The study used the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS) to measure self-esteem as a dependent variable. The scale in this study consisted of 20 items that represented aspects of an individual's personal, family, academic, and social self-esteem. Each item had a 5 point response ranging 0 to 4. The study used the total score of the TSCS. In addition, we analyzed the four sub-domains of self-esteem that represent aspects of individual's personal (8 items), family (3 items), academic (3 items), and social (6 items) self-esteem.

Results

The multivariate OLS regression model found that, all other things being equal, participants in the treatment condition reported higher self-esteem than the control group. The difference in the TSCS between the two groups was 3.49, which was significant at the p-value of .05. In addition, the SUUBI program had positive impacts on the development of personal, family, and social self-esteem. Participants in the SUUBI program reported higher personal, family, and social self-esteem than the control group by 1.62, .53, and 1.31, respectively. However, we failed to find positive and significant growth in academic self-esteem of participants in the SUUBI program compared to the counterpart.

Conclusions and Implications

Outcomes of the intervention have strong implications for the development and expansion of asset-based policies and programs in Uganda and other African countries. Assets can enhance children's realistic hope that they have resources for investment in their education and future. The next step will be to develop and expand asset-building programs that are socially and culturally relevant to the African context.