Thurman Tonya R, Kidman Rachel, Nice Johanna, Ikamari Lawrence
Highly Vulnerable Children Research Center, Tulane School of Social Work, Tulane University, 6823 St. Charles Ave., Building 9, New Orleans, LA, 70118, USA,
AIDS Behav. 2015 Aug;19(8):1408-14. doi: 10.1007/s10461-014-0897-6.
HIV places acute stressors on affected children and families; especially in resource limited contexts like sub-Saharan Africa. Despite their importance, the epidemic's potential consequences for family dynamics and children's psychological health are understudied. Using a population-based sample of 2,487 caregivers and 3,423 children aged 8-14 years from the Central Province of Kenya, analyses were conducted to examine whether parental illness and loss were associated with family functioning and children's externalizing behaviors. After controlling for demographics, a significant relationship between parental illness and externalizing behaviors was found among children of both genders. Orphan status was associated with behavioral problems among only girls. Regardless of gender, children experiencing both parental loss and illness fared the worst. Family functioning measured from the perspective of both caregivers and children also had an independent and important relationship with behavioral problems. Findings suggest that psychological and behavioral health needs may be elevated in households coping with serious illness and reiterate the importance of a family-centered approach for HIV-affected children.
艾滋病毒给受影响的儿童及其家庭带来了巨大压力，尤其是在撒哈拉以南非洲等资源有限的地区。尽管其重要性，但该流行病对家庭动态和儿童心理健康的潜在影响仍未得到充分研究。利用来自肯尼亚中部省份的2487名照顾者和3423名8至14岁儿童的基于人群的样本，进行了分析，以研究父母患病和丧失是否与家庭功能及儿童的外化行为有关。在控制了人口统计学因素后，发现父母患病与两性儿童的外化行为之间存在显著关系。孤儿身份仅与女孩的行为问题有关。无论性别如何，经历了父母双亡和患病的儿童情况最差。从照顾者和儿童角度衡量的家庭功能也与行为问题存在独立且重要的关系。研究结果表明，在应对严重疾病的家庭中，心理和行为健康需求可能会增加，并重申了以家庭为中心的方法对受艾滋病毒影响儿童的重要性。
