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Article History

Accepted: 17 October 2025

First Online: 4 December 2025

Declarations

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: The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

: The scientific and ethical aspects of the study from which this manuscript emanated were reviewed and approved by the Department of Psychology Research Committee and the Faculty of Humanities Research Ethics Committee of University of Pretoria under Reference Number 04562195 (GW20171115HS), the Uganda National AIDS Research Committee (NARC) under Reference Number ARC208, and the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) under Reference Number SS270ES. The procedures used in this study adhere to the tenets of the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.

: Written informed consent was obtained from all caregivers and adolescents who were included in the study from which this article emanated and only those who agreed were interviewed in a private place. No one was told the answers of participants. Those who wished to withdraw from the study were allowed without any penalty. Distressed participants were handed to the caregivers or social workers who served as fieldwork guides, for counselling. All participants who completed the interviews were compensated for their time. Personal identifiers were removed from the filled questionnaires before handing them to a data analyst for entry into the computer. The dataset was saved on the authors’ password protected computer and stored in the archive for the Department of Psychology at the University of Pretoria.