Economic, socio-emotional, and food security conditions during COVID-19 pandemic among caregivers of young adolescents aged 10–12 yrs in a semi-urban setting in Ghana

BACKGROUND: Few studies have described the consequences of the COVID − 19 pandemic among caregivers of young adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. We aimed to explore the consequences of COVID-19 on economic, socio-emotional, and household food security conditions among caregivers of young adolescents in a semi-urban setting in the Eastern Region of Ghana. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, caregivers of young adolescents aged 10-12yrs in the Somanya-Kpong area were enrolled. These participants were part of the second follow-up of the iLiNS-DYAD Ghana trial. A questionnaire designed from the PhenX Toolkit COVID-19 Protocol and the Food Access and Food Security During COVID-19 Survey (Version 2.1) was used to collect data over 8 months starting January 2022. We used descriptive statistics to summarize data and McNemar Chi-square tests to compare percentages of agreement to statements of household food security conditions “one year before” versus “since” the pandemic outbreak. RESULTS: Among 966 caregivers (94% females; 6% males), 89% reported decreased household income compared with the year before the pandemic. Although 72.5% of caregivers continued working during the pandemic, most said they had experienced a reduction in their work hours (72.6%), workload (78.8%) and salaries (63.4%). Many (65%) said their children engaged in educational activities when schools were closed, with 46% hiring private teachers. Caregivers most frequently cited financial concerns (83%) and negative impact on work (79%) as their greatest sources of stress because of COVID-19. Significantly more caregivers reported experiencing household food insecurity conditions “since the outbreak” compared to “one year before the outbreak” (55.4% vs. 19.6%, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In this setting, COVID-19 had negative consequences on the economic, socio-emotional, and household food security conditions of caregivers and their young adolescents.