HETEROGENEOUS TRAJECTORIES OF DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS AMONG MEN IN SOUTH AFRICA: EVIDENCE FROM LATENT GROWTH MIXTURE MODELING

The study examines the heterogeneous trajectories of depressive symptoms among men experiencing family changes and paying child maintenance in South Africa. A longitudinal study using the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) waves 1 to 5 (2008-2017) was conducted. The Latent Growth Curve Model (LGCM) was used to estimate the trajectory of growth or change in depressive symptoms among men aged 18 years and older in South Africa resulting in a sample of 9,102 men. Two classes of depressive symptoms among men were identified and categorized into the low and high symptom groups. The depressive symptom trajectory for men who experienced a family change was higher than that of men who did not experience a family change for both classes of the depressive symptoms. Men who did not pay child maintenance had higher trajectories of depressive symptoms compared to the men who paid child maintenance for both the low symptom and the high symptom groups. There is a need for specific intervention strategies directed towards the specific classes of depressive symptoms in men. Men should be counseled on the benefits of financially supporting their children without being compelled to do so by law.