Background: Bereavement increases children’s risk for psychological disorders, highlighting the need for effective interventions, especially in areas where orphanhood is common. We aimed to assess the effects of an eight-session support group intervention on the psychological health of bereaved female adolescents in South Africa.

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Community-based care and support programmes for orphaned and vulnerable children and their families are a critical component of HIV prevention and treatment efforts worldwide. The challenges of evaluating community-based programmes for HIV-affected families limit the evidence base for effective social work programming. Addressing these challenges can improve the validity of evaluations to provide better direction for the programme under study as well as promote best practices generally.

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Children and adolescents affected by HIV are at elevated risk of depression, yet research on related interventions in this population is scarce in sub-Saharan Africa. This study sought to examine the effects of interpersonal psychotherapy for groups (IPTG) on depressive symptomology among orphaned and vulnerable adolescents in South Africa. A cluster randomized controlled trial wherein adolescents ages 14–17 enrolled in community-based programming for HIV-affected and vulnerable families were randomly assigned by geographic cluster to participate in a 16-session IPTG intervention or the standard of care (n = 489).

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