Document Type

Article

Abstract

Background

Despite the recognised links between food insecurity and parenting, few studies have evaluated the perceived impacts of livelihood or food security interventions on parental practices, intra-household functioning, adolescent behaviour and psychosocial outcomes in HIV-affected households in sub-Saharan Africa.

Aims

The study aimed to understand the perceived effects of food security on parenting practices and how this was experienced by both adolescent girls (aged 13–19 years) and their caregivers in rural Kenya.

Method

We conducted semi-structured, individual interviews with 62 caregiver–adolescent dyads who were participants in the adolescent Shamba Maisha (NCT03741634), a sub-study of adolescent girls and caregivers with a household member participating in the Shamba Maisha agricultural and finance intervention trial (NCT01548599). Data were analysed following the principles of thematic analysis.

Results

Compared to control households, the Shamba Maisha intervention households had improved food security and strengthened economic security, which, in turn, improved parenting practices. Intervention households described changes in parenting experiences, including decreased parental stress, reduced absenteeism and harsh parenting and improved caregiver– adolescent relationships. These positive caregiving practices, in turn, contributed to improved mental health and fewer behavioural problems among adolescent girls. Changes in the control households were less noticeable.

Conclusion

These findings demonstrate how an income-generating agricultural intervention may improve food security and positively affect parenting practices, intra-household dynamics and adolescent psychosocial well-being and behaviour. Further research is needed to explore how to harness the social benefits of agricultural interventions to best address the critical intersections among food insecurity, parenting practices and adolescent mental health.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2024.802

Rights

© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal College of Psychiatrists This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

APA Citation

Onono, M. A., Sheira, L., Frongilio, E. A., Odhiambo, G., Wekesa, P., Conroy, A., … Weiser, S. D. (2025). Effect of improving food security on parenting practices and caregiver–adolescent relationships: qualitative findings of an income-generating agricultural intervention in rural Kenya. BJPsych Open, 11(1), e10. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2024.802

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