Psychosocial Stressors of Families Affected by HIV/AIDS: Implications for Social Work Practice

Figures & data

TABLE 1 Summary of Qualitative Responses by Theme for Mothers and Children in Families Affected by HIV/AIDS

Theme	Sub-theme	Impact on children's lives
1. Poverty
	Housing	“The kids are in bad housing.” “They're in places where there is a lot of shooting.”
	Transience	“They get housing but can't maintain it, especially when they're poor or there's domestic violence.”
2. Stigma
	HIV+ Children	“They don't want to be labeled as different so they have compliance issues.”
	HIV− Children	“These kids get into fights because other kids pick on them. They get called “those AIDS kids.”
3. Mental Health
	Mothers	“Most moms have low self-esteem. There's depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic distress.”
	Children	“They have low self-esteem, act out, and get into trouble at school.”
4. Physical Health
	Mothers	“The moms get to a point where they can't care for children or themselves.”
	Children	(HIV-infected): “Most don't look much different from other kids except being smaller in size.”(HIV-affected): “Most kids are in pretty good physical health but they don't get evaluated.”
5. Orphans
	Grief	“They find out what is wrong after their parent has died. They all need counseling.”
	Care	“They end up with grandparents who have health problems of their own.”

FIGURE 1 Infants, children, and adolescents with HIV/AIDS: residence in relation to their siblings. This category excludes 22 adolescent mothers who lived independently. The mean age of the children with HIV/AIDS was 12.2 years. The ages of siblings were not always recorded, especially if they did not reside with the client. (Figure is provided in color online).

TABLE 2 Identified Mental Health and Other Conditions for Primary Clients by Age Category (N = 80)

Age category	No. of clients	% Identified ^a	Type of condition (by frequency) ^b
1) Adults (>25)	12	66.6%	Depression (6), Domestic Violence (4), Addiction (2), Schizophrenia (1) Suicide Attempt (1)
2) Adolescents (13–24)	37	70.3%	Depression (9), Behavioral/Jail (9), Domestic Violence (8), Suicide Ideation (6), Learning Disabilities (5), Bipolar Disorder (4), Sexual Abuse/Rape (3), Addiction (2), Anxiety Disorder (2), Self-Mutilation (1)
3) Children ^c (0–12)	31	25.8%	Domestic Violence (4), Developmental (2) ADHD (2), Depression (1), Behavioral (1)

FIGURE 2 Identified mental health and other conditions for mothers with HIV/AIDS and their children in residence. This total is likely to be underreported. Compared to children with HIV/AIDS, few children affected by HIV/AIDS were evaluated for mental health and other conditions. (Figure is provided in color online.)