It's harder for boys? Children's representations of their HIV/AIDS-affected peers in Zimbabwe

Figures & data

Table 1. Coding frame.

Global themes	Organising themes	Basic themes
Character narratives of HIV/AIDS-affected children	Children as victims	Express sympathy and pity for child
	Positive representations of child	(Intelligent, likeable, beautiful, responsible, hard-working, obedient, good in school, morally good)
	Children as morally problematic	Child associated with ‘Bad behaviour’ (promiscuous, alcohol, foolish)
Representations of the life situation of HIV/AIDS-affected children	Representations of HIV/AIDS-affected households	Household looks visibly poor (dirty, dying flowers, lack of basic essentials, dying animals) Positive physical appearance of household (beautiful, clean, livestock)
	Representations of the parents of HIV/AIDS-affected children	AIDS visible through behaviour & condition of parents (sleeping, unable to work, hospital visits, look sick) Limited supportive adults in household (evident in lack of social, emotional or economic support)
	Representations of social circumstances in the homes of HIV/AIDS-affected children	Children neglected/abused/seen as burdens in their households Children receiving social support in their households
	Duties of HIV/AIDS-affected children	Child engaged in caregiving activities (intimate nursing, bathing, administrating medicine, feeding) Child engaged in household duties Child's duties as exploitation by relatives Duties carried out by a child lacking food Duties carried out by sick child Duties compromise safety and well-being of the child Duties hinder child from social engagement (playing) Child engaged in income-generating activities
	Community responses to HIV/AIDS-affected children	Extended family support Community supports HIV/AIDS-affected child Community responds negatively to HIV/AIDS-affected child
How challenges of HIV/AIDS-affected children manifest within the school environment	Impact on school attendance	School drop out Late for school
	Material deprivation	Lack of school equipment (uniform, pens, books, fees) Lack of food (comes to school without eating) Child looks visibly poor (poor clothing, dirty, rags, torn clothes)
	Physical health	Child shows symptoms of poor physical health (pain, tiredness, fainting, sleeping, vomiting) Child looks visibly sick (cracked lips, skinny) Child visits hospital/health clinics
	Emotional health	Child shows symptoms of poor emotional health (sad, crying, fear, worry about home situation, miserable, stressed)
School as a negative context for HIV/AIDS-affected children	Teachers' negative responses to HIV/AIDS-affected children	Teacher sends child away from school Teacher abuses child
	Social exclusion	Child experience social exclusion (isolation, lack of friends) Child experience bullying Child stigmatized
School as a source of positive support	Teachers (including school and head master) support beyond education	Teachers as guardians (emotional/counselling/advice/comfort) Teachers provide material support (pens, books, fees, uniform/clothes, soap) Teacher assists with food/water Teacher encourages inclusion of HIV/AIDS-affected children Other – not specified School aware of home situation of child
	Peer support	Peers share materials (pens, books) Peers share food Peer interaction and emotional support Peers help with chores
	Bridges between schools and outside sources of support	School spaces as platform for referral to health clinics NGOs BEAM Chiedza
	Routes to positive social identities	Schools as distraction from life tragedies (happy, forget home situation) Positive perceptions of children's school performance
Extra coding	Perceptions of HIV/AIDS	Contagion of HIV ART HIV perceived as ‘killer disease’

Table 2. Differences in prevalence of organising theme according to sex of child described.

Organising themes	Male described N=62	Female described N=66	Chi-squared value	Degrees of freedom	p-Value (Chi-squared test)
Material deprivation
Lack of school equipment (uniform, pens, books, fees) Lack of food (comes to school without eating) Child looks visibly poor (poor clothing, dirty, rags, torn clothes)	39%	23%	3.855	1	.050^a
Representations of the parents of HIV/AIDS-affected children
AIDS visible through behaviour & condition of parents (sleeping, unable to work, hospital visits, look sick) Limited supportive adults in household (evident in lack of social, emotional or economic support)	87%	70%	5.663	1	.017^a
Teacher (including school and head master) support beyond education
Teachers as guardians (emotional/counselling/advice/comfort) Teachers provide material support (pens, books, fees, uniform/clothes, soap) Teacher assists with food/water Teacher encourages inclusion of HIV/AIDS-affected children Other – not specified School aware of home situation of child	21%	42%	6.760	1	.009^a
Duties of HIV/AIDS-affected children
Child engaged in caregiving activities (intimate nursing, bathing, administrating medicine, feeding) Child engaged in household duties Child's duties as exploitation by relatives Duties carried out by a child lacking food Duties carried out by sick child Duties compromise safety and well-being of the child Duties hinder child from social engagement (playing) Child engaged in income-generating activities	53%	17%	18.941	1	<.000^b

^aSignificant at the 5% significance level pre-Bonferonni correction (critical p-value .05).

^bSignificant at the 5% significance level post-Bonferonni correction (critical p-value .001).

Figure 1. Type of support received from teacher and/or school, by gender.