This study evaluated an economic empowerment intervention designed to promote life options, health and mental health functioning among AIDS-orphaned adolescents in rural Uganda. The study used an experimental design in which adolescents (N=267) were randomly assigned to receive an economic empowerment intervention or usual care for orphaned children. The study measured mental health functioning using 20 items of the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS: 2)—a standardized measure for self-esteem—and measured overall health using a self-rated health measure. Data obtained at 10-month follow-up revealed significant positive effects of the economic empowerment intervention on adolescents’ self-rated health and mental health functioning. Additionally, health and mental health functioning were found to be positively associated with each other. The findings have implications for public policy and health programming for AIDS-orphaned adolescents.

Objectives-To examine the effect of economic assets on sexual risk taking intentions among school-going AIDS-orphaned adolescents in rural Uganda.Methods-AIDS-Orphaned adolescents from fifteen comparable schools were randomly assigned to control (n=133) or treatment (n=127) conditions. Treatment participants received child savings accounts, workshops, and mentorship. This economic intervention was in addition to the traditional care and support services for school-going orphaned adolescents (counseling and school supplies) provided to both treatment and control groups. Adolescents in the treatment condition were compared to adolescents in the control condition at baseline and at 10-month post-intervention.Results-Controlling for socio-demographic factors, child-caregiver/parental communication and peer pressure, adolescents in the economic intervention group reported a significant reduction in sexual risk taking intentions compared to adolescents in the control condition.Conclusions-The findings indicate that in Uganda, a country devastated by poverty and disease (including HIV/AIDS), having access to economic assets plays an important role in influencing adolescents' sexual risk taking intentions. These findings have implications for care and support of orphaned adolescents, especially in poor African countries devastated by poverty and sexually transmitted diseases.

We examine the impact of social capital on savings and educational performance of orphaned adolescents participating in a family-level economic strengthening program in Uganda. Findings indicate that if given the opportunity, poor families in Uganda will use financial institutions to save for the education of their adolescent youth. Moreover, although the results are mixed, overall, adolescents with higher levels of social capital and social support, including participation in youth groups, are likely to report better saving performance compared to their counterparts with lower levels of social capital and social support. The results point to: (1) the role for family-economic strengthening programs specifically focused on improving the educational outcomes of orphaned adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa, and (2) the need for adolescents to be encouraged to participate in youth groups since these groups seem to offer the much needed supportive informal institutional structure for positive adolescent outcomes.

This study examines whether participation in Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) leads to a significant growth in assets beyond saving in the IDA accounts. Using a longitudinal experimental research design for low-income IDA participants, we test for impacts on five measures of assets: liquid assets, other financial assets, total financial assets, real assets, and total assets. Results show that, while there are no large differences in liquid and financial assets between the treatment group and the control group, IDA participants in the take-up group have more real assets and total assets than members of the control group. Results suggest that additional research to examine long-term effects of IDAs on asset growth may be fruitful.

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