The psyhological problems of children with HIV/AIDS in Tshwane

[摘要] In order to determine what mental health problems South African children living with HIVexperience, interviews were conducted with HIV-positive children and their caregivers at apaediatric HIV clinic in Tshwane. The interviews with the children included assessments thatfocused on the children's self-esteem (Self-Description Questionnaire), experiences of anxiety(RCMAS), and the coping strategies that they employed in daily living (Kidcope). Theinterviews with caregivers included a questionnaire about demographic details, the ParentalStress Index (PSI), and the Coping with Children's Negative Emotions Scale (CCNES).Caregivers also completed the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), which assesses a range ofpsychological problems in children. These results were compared to a sample of HIV-negativechildren and their caregivers from the same community.Although many children living with HIV-infection displayed clinical levels of somaticand depressive symptoms, these did not differ at statistically significant rates from the HIVnegativecomparison group. Furthermore, children living with HIV were not found to experienceclinically significant levels of anxiety as assessed by the RCMAS. Children living with HIVwere found to employ more adaptive coping strategies than maladaptive coping strategies andsignificantly fewer maladaptive coping strategies than HIV-uninfected children use. Childrenliving with HIV were also found to have significantly higher positive self-evaluations than HIVuninfectedchildren.The results of the caregiver assessments indicated that caregivers of children living withHIV experience more distress in their relationship with their child and tend to engage less withnegative emotional displays of their children than do caregivers of HIV-uninfected children.

[发布机构] University of Pretoria