Impact of maternal HIV health: a 12-year study of children in the Parents and Children Coping Together project
Murphy, D.A.; Marelich, W.D.; Herbeck, D.M.
Journal of Adolescent Health Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine 51(4): 313-318
2012
ISSN/ISBN: 1879-1972 PMID: 22999830 DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.12.025Document Number: 535144
The purpose of this 12-year longitudinal study was to assess the effects of maternal HIV/AIDS on child/adolescent well-being and behavioral outcomes, extending an earlier published account. Interviews were conducted with 66 pairs of healthy children and their mothers living with HIV/AIDS, who are participants in the Parents And children Coping Together (PACT) project begun in 1997. All study participants were English or Spanish speaking. About half (48.5%) of the youth were female. Maternal health status (e.g., viral load biomedical marker, illness symptoms, physical functioning, and depression) and child/adolescent outcomes (e.g., depression, anxiety/worry, aggression, and self-concept) were assessed over 16 time points. Using growth curve modeling, results show a negative effect of maternal health status on child/adolescent outcomes, including child/adolescent depression, anxiety/worry, aggression, and self-concept. Interaction effects within the growth models suggest younger children are more impacted by poor maternal health than are older children/adolescents. This is the first study to follow a cohort of children of mothers living with HIV/AIDS over such an extended age range, through late adolescence/early adulthood, to determine the impact of maternal health status throughout the entire developmental period.
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