(WITHDRAWN) Sex-Disaggregated Associations between Gender Norm Perceptions, Self-Concept, and Hopelessness Among AIDS-Orphaned Children in Uganda

Background and Purpose: Globally, adolescent girls contend with socialized gender norms that endorse and perpetuate inequalities. Despite improvements in the rights of women and girls in Uganda due to pro-women legislation, girls and women remain subject to compounded inequities such as limited educational attainment, lack of economic resources, and HIV risk exposure. These compounded vulnerabilities can have detrimental effects on mental health outcomes, including self-concept and feelings of hopelessness, which may be dynamically, associated with detrimental gender norms. However, there is a paucity of research about the gendered differences in perceptions of gender norms and their unique associations with self-concept and hopelessness. Findings about the interrelatedness of these experiences can guide a more in-depth understanding about the ways in which traditional views of gender can impact individual well-being.

Methods: All participants enrolled in the Suubi-Maka study (N=346) were AIDS-orphaned children and adolescents in the last 2 years of primary school (12-16 years). Participants were selected from 10 comparable public primary schools in Rakai and Masaka Districts of southern Uganda, a community heavily affected by HIV/AIDS. All schools were balanced on academic performance and student population size. The student population within the study schools came from families and villages with very similar socioeconomic backgrounds. We analyzed baseline data (male = 121, female = 225). Gender norms were measured using the adapted Attitudes Towards Women Scale for adolescents. In addition, self-concept and hopelessness were measured using the Tennessee Self-Concept, and the Beck Hopelessness scales respectively. We ran a gender-disaggregated multivariate analysis to assess the associations between indicators of self-concept, hopelessness and gender norms.

Results: Male and female participants had differing views of gender norms. Data showed that 84% of male participants agreed that it is more important for boys than girls to do well in school, compared to 45% of females. Gender norms predicted feelings of hopelessness among female participants. More specifically, hopelessness was significantly associated with the belief that girls should be more concerned with becoming wives and mothers than desiring a professional or business career (β=0.24, 95% CI [0.09,0.60]). Gender norms were also significantly associated with differences in self-concept among female participants, with strong associations between the belief that girls should be more concerned with becoming good wives and mothers than desiring a professional or business career (β=0.04, 95% CI [0.00,0.41]), and father’s should have greater authority than mothers in making family decisions (β=0.03, 95% CI [0.00,0.31]).

Conclusions and Implications: Gender norms have significant effects on the ways children view themselves and hold hope for their futures. Findings illuminate the effect of socialized gender norms on girls’ self concept and ability to hold hope for their futures. The importance of incorporating gender sensitive components into programming targeting self-sufficiency and educationally attainment should not be discounted. These findings can add to existing literature about programs for children in Uganda, and throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.