Family-based care and psychological problems of AIDS orphans: Does it matter who was the care-giver?

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to compare psychological symptoms among double AIDS orphans (i.e., children who lost both of their parents to HIV/AIDS) who were in the care of different family-based caregivers (i.e., surviving parent, grandparents, other relatives, & non-relatives) before they were replaced in orphanages.The participants include 176 double AIDS orphans from four AIDS orphanages in rural China. Prior to being replaced in AIDS orphanages, these children had received family-based care by different caregivers, which included surviving parent (38%), grandparents (22%), other relatives (19%) and non-relatives (22%). The psychological measures include traumatic symptoms, depression, and loneliness. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses suggested that children who were previously cared for by non-relatives scored significantly higher in traumatic symptoms, depression and loneliness scales than children who were previously cared for by their surviving parent, grandparents, and other relatives. The children in the care of grandparents reported the best scores on all psychological measures among children in the care of non-parent relatives. Multivariate analysis, controlling for children's gender, age, length in orphanages, number of household replacements, and total duration of replacement, revealed that the type of caregivers was significantly associated with psychological problems.Results in the current study suggest that children under the care of their grandparents reported the best psychological outcomes when their parents were unable to care for them because of AIDS. Appropriate psychological support and counseling services are needed for AIDS orphans who were either currently or previously under non-relative family-based care in China.

Orphanhood by AIDS-Related Causes and Child Mental Health: A Developmental Psychopathology Approach

“…perceived stigma, personalized stigma, enacted stigma) have been shown to associate independently with indicators of internalizing and school adjustment problems [51], and longitudinal models have shown transactional effects among enacted stigma, depression symptoms, and perceived stigma [52]. Importantly, two measures of AIDS-related stigma have recently been validated in China [50] and South Africa [48]. …”

“…Protective factors within the child’s household were having a female caregiver [20,82], better caregiver mental health [40,41,59], and having a more closely-related relative as a caregiver [20,32,40,50], all of which were related to less internalizing, social, and school-related problems. Higher caregiver educational level was related to less delinquency [84] and better school attendance [74].…”

Caring for HIV‐positive orphans in the context of HIV and AIDS: perspectives of Botswana grandmothers

“…Many studies in Africa have been carried out on experiences of grandmothers as carers of orphans, and these have focused on the care and living arrangements of the orphans and their elderly guardians (Skovdal et al, 2011). Very little is known about the well-being of AIDS orphans who were under the care of the grandmothers (Zhao et al, 2010). Care aspects related to child development, education and health are often overlooked, and lack of attention to these issues in research, policy and practice means they are likely to continue unabated (Seruwagi, 2014).…”

The role of perceived social support in loneliness and self-esteem among children affected by HIV/AIDS

“…The Chinese government estimated in 2004 that at least 100 000 Chinese children had been orphaned by parental AIDS; many of these orphaned children reside in Henan, an agricultural province in central China with a population of 96.7 million [3]. The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Henan was mainly caused by unhygienic plasma collection among poor farmers from the late 1980s to early 1990s [4]. The practice of unhygienic plasma collection (no testing for HIV and other blood-borne infections, reusing needles and other contaminated equipment) resulted in numerous HIV infections and a rapid spread of HIVamong the local population [5].…”