How caregiver mental health affects recovery from severe malnutrition in young children
Official title: Understanding the role of caregiver mental health in outcomes following childhood severe acute malnutrition
Funded at University of California, San Francisco · NIH-11514557 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will track caregivers' depression and anxiety while their children get treatment for severe acute malnutrition to learn how caregiver mental health relates to child recovery and relapse.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R21 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California, San Francisco NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Francisco, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2025 |
| Project end | March 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $46,216 |
| NIH project number | 3R21MH139015-02S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11514557 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are caregivers of children (under 11 years) receiving treatment for severe acute malnutrition, especially those enrolled at the Burkina Faso trial sites.
✕Less likely to help
Caregivers of children who are not currently being treated for SAM, or families not enrolled in the referenced trial, are unlikely to receive direct benefit from participation.
What this research studies
If my child is treated for severe acute malnutrition, researchers will add short questionnaires about my mood and anxiety to an existing treatment trial in Burkina Faso. They will measure caregiver depression and anxiety during the child's treatment and follow up for up to one year after recovery. Those caregiver measures will be linked to detailed child health data already being collected, including relapse and longer-term outcomes. The study aims to show whether caregiver distress affects a child's ability to recover and stay healthy.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could identify caregiver mental health as a point of intervention to improve child recovery and reduce relapse after SAM treatment.
How similar studies have gone: Previous research links caregiver depression to infant undernutrition, but applying this approach specifically to children with severe acute malnutrition is relatively novel and not well studied.
Where this research is happening
-
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Velloza, Jennifer — University of California, San Francisco
- Study coordinator: Velloza, Jennifer
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Caregiver mental health and recovery after severe childhood malnutrition
This project looks at whether depression and anxiety in caregivers are linked to how well young children recover and stay healthy after treatment for severe acute malnutrition in Burkina Faso.
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Exploring how caregiver mental health affects children recovering from severe malnutrition
This study looks at how a caregiver's feelings, like depression and anxiety, can affect how well children recover from severe malnutrition, and it’s for families in Burkina Faso who are going through this treatment together.
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.