{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,28]],"date-time":"2026-04-28T17:25:24Z","timestamp":1777397124388,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,10]],"date-time":"2024-12-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1733788800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009633","name":"NIH\/NICHD","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["5R01HD092391"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["5R01HD092391"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009633","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"University of Minnesota Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility Scholar Award"},{"name":"University of Minnesota School of Public Health Hawley Award"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Caregivers of young children may have been particularly vulnerable to mental health challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic due to its negative impacts on their housing, finances, and childcare demands. This study explored the associations between COVID-19-related experiences and symptoms of depression and anxiety among Ugandan caregivers.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This cross-sectional study included 100 Ugandan caregivers of young children aged 6\u201359 months with uncomplicated malaria and iron deficiency (N = 85) and without malaria or anemia (N = 15) who were enrolled in the Optimizing Iron Status in Malaria-Endemic Areas (OptiM) study. Sociodemographic data and COVID-19 experiences were collected using an internally developed survey and symptoms of depression and anxiety were measured using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-25) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CESD-20) scale. Multiple linear regression models were used to assess the associations between COVID-19 survey scores with HSCL-25 or CESD-20 scores.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Nearly half of caregivers reported clinically meaningful symptoms of depression (46%) and\/or anxiety (49%). Caregivers had more severe symptoms of depression and\/or anxiety if they experienced greater changes in living situations or decreases in physical activity (CESD-20: \u03b2 = 3.35, 95% CI [1.00, 5.70], p = .01), food insecurity (HSCL-25: \u03b2 = 3.25, 95% CI [0.41, 6.10], p = .03, CESD-25: \u03b2 = 3.09, 95% CI [0.79, 5.39], p = .01), and domestic violence (HSCL-25: \u03b2 = 3.82, 95% CI [0.94, 6.70], p = .01) during COVID-19. These associations did not vary depending on whether the caregivers had children with malaria.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Negative COVID-19 experiences were significantly associated with more severe depression and anxiety in Ugandan caregivers, regardless of their children\u2019s malaria status. Urgent attention and action are needed to support the mental well-being of this vulnerable population. Further prospective studies should investigate the long-term impact of COVID-19 on caregivers and their children.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0314409","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,10]],"date-time":"2024-12-10T18:29:27Z","timestamp":1733855367000},"page":"e0314409","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Association of COVID-19-related perceptions and experiences with depression and anxiety in Ugandan caregivers of young children with malaria and iron deficiency: A cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0482-4667","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Saeun","family":"Park","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7136-0594","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Paul","family":"Bangirana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8746-9009","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Ezekiel","family":"Mupere","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Reagan I.","family":"Baluku","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Erika S.","family":"Helgeson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0592-1867","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Sarah E.","family":"Cusick","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0314409.ref001","first-page":"157","article-title":"WHO Declares COVID-19 a Pandemic.","volume":"91","author":"D Cucinotta","year":"2020","journal-title":"Acta Biomed."},{"key":"pone.0314409.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2813","DOI":"10.1007\/s11469-021-00550-x","article-title":"Effects of COVID-19 Fear on Society\u2019s Quality of Life.","volume":"20","author":"N Demirbas","year":"2022","journal-title":"Int J Ment Health Addict."},{"key":"pone.0314409.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1080\/09638237.2020.1757052","article-title":"COVID 19 and its mental health consequences","volume":"30","author":"A Kumar","year":"2021","journal-title":"Journal of Mental Health"},{"key":"pone.0314409.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"607","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-021-10631-0","article-title":"The association between food insecurity and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.","volume":"21","author":"D Fang","year":"2021","journal-title":"BMC Public Health"},{"key":"pone.0314409.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1186\/s13034-021-00422-1","article-title":"Longitudinal transactional relationships between caregiver and child mental health during the COVID-19 global pandemic.","volume":"15","author":"EL Robertson","year":"2021","journal-title":"Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health."},{"key":"pone.0314409.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1031","DOI":"10.1016\/S2214-109X(21)00245-X","article-title":"Maternal mental health is being affected by poverty and COVID-19","author":"M Parra-Saavedra","year":"2021","journal-title":"The Lancet Global Health. 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