TREAT C-AUD
Alcohol and substance use disorders among pre-adolescent children is a neglected and under-researched area. The TREAT child alcohol use disorder (C-AUD) consortium have been present in the research area for years and observed and identified alcohol use including alcohol dependency among children.
About the research project
Objectives
This project will investigate the magnitude of C-AUD and substance use in children, and related household, community, school, health system and clinical factors associated with the disorder, and suggest scalable changes in the health system for screening, diagnostic and treatment procedures in Uganda.
Methods
This research project will:
- adapt culturally appropriate and operational screening and diagnostic criteria for C-AUD;
- investigate the proportion of C-AUD among children age 6-13 years in the community and health system;
- investigate risk- and protective factors for alcohol and substance use in children;
- identify the gap in the health system's handling of the issue and suggest changes to the practises; and
- investigate C-AUD from the children and schools' point of view.
- Our research is explorative in nature aiming at getting a comprehensive understanding of the magnitude and related factors of alcohol and substance use in children.
We collaborate through the project with ministries, the communities, and the school and health system
Work packages
WP1 is Project Management
WP4 is the implementation issues comprising integration of results, dissemination and policy and implementation advice.
WP2 and WP3 comprise four larger quantitative and qualitative data collection areas
- WP 3.1: Community survey
- WP 3.2 Health system survey
- WP 3.3 School studies
- WP 3.4 Qualitative studies with children
Project name:
TREAT Child Alcohol Use Disorder (C-AUD) in Eastern Uganda: Screening, diagnostics, risk factors and handling of children drinking alcohol
Partners
Makerere University (Mak) and NTNU
Vilde Skylstad defended her PhD degree
Vilde Skylstad defended her PhD degree at the University of Bergen on 22 February 2024 with the thesis:
"As Soon as They Can Hold a Glass" – Exploring the Prevalence, Context and Social Determinants of Early Childhood Substance Use Before Age 10: A Multimethod Study from 11 Countries in Africa.
People
Project manager
Ingunn Marie S. Engebretsen Project manager
Project members
Juliet Ndimwibo Babirye School of Public Health, Makerere University College of Health Sciences
Marjorie Mukisa, PhD School of Public Health, Makerere University College of Health Sciences
Neda Valeckaite Centre for International Health, University of Bergen
Jutta Dierkes Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen
Norbert Skokauskas Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Child Protection, Institute of Psychiatry, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
Ane-Marthe Solheim Skar Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (NKVTS) and Centre for International Health, University of Bergen
Joyce Sserunjogi Nalugya Mulago National Referral and Teaching Hospital and Department of Psychiatry Makerere, College of Health Sciences
Harriet Aber School of Public Health, Makerere University College of Health Sciences
Victoria Bakken Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Child Protection, Institute of Psychiatry, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
Vilde Skylstad Centre for International Health, University of Bergen
Melf-Jakob Kühl Centre for International Health, University of Bergen
Funding
Project number: 285489