Are the Effects of Cumulative Risks on at-Risk Children's Posttraumatic Stress Symptomatology Moderated By the Receipt of Grants in the Household?

The KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa is characterized by a large child population, high rates of household poverty and has the highest incidence of deprivation in terms of access to services and perceived well-being. Studies have identified several multilevel risk factors that negatively impact children’s well-being, however, little research has examined the cumulative impact of these risk factors on children’s development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Exposure to high levels of cumulative risks puts children at risk for poorer mental health outcomes and potentially higher levels of traumatic stress which may be worsened in high poverty contexts. A discrete, though very small body of literature has exploring relationships between income and posttraumatic stress symptomology found that when exposed to a given traumatic event, people of lower income tended to exhibit more posttraumatic stress symptoms than those of higher incomes. These findings may allow for a unique focus of prevention efforts toward providing social grants to high-risk families as they may moderate the development of posttraumatic stress symptoms.

To our knowledge, no research to date has empirically examined the potential moderating effect that receipt of a social grant may have on the relationship between cumulative risks and children’s posttraumatic stress. A better understanding of these relationships in a high-risk, understudied context is key to developing prevention and intervention strategies that may effectively improve the well-being of children in these vulnerable populations.

Using Wave 1 baseline data from a short-term longitudinal study of 1,961 7-10 year olds in a low-income, high HIV-risk sample of communities throughout the KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa, the current study will explore whether receiving a social grant at the household-level moderates the relationship between cumulative risks and children’s experience of posttraumatic stress.

Preliminary analyses using bivariate correlations to test the associations between the predictor, moderator and outcome variables showed that cumulative risk was positively associated with grant receipt and child posttraumatic stress (r = .128**; r = .020, respectively), indicating that children experiencing higher risks were associated with a greater likelihood of receiving grants. Correlations also found that receipt of grants was linked to lower levels of posttraumatic stress (r = -.013). These interesting relationships suggest that further investigation of a potential moderating relationship between these variables should be explored. The results of this study will serve to aid interventionists working in Sub-Saharan Africa with the design and implementation of income support programs and policies that protect children from risks associated with the experience of posttraumatic stress.