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Disclosure experience of 58 HIV-seropositive women was examined as a multi-faceted process comprising eight variables: level, seriousness, breadth, frequency, source, secrecy, age at first disclosure, and time since disclosure. The majority of children (57%) were told that their mothers had HIV/AIDS and were given additional information about mothers' health (64%) including prognosis of potential death (68%). Most were disclosed to by their mothers (75%) and were not asked to keep disclosures secret (66%). For most (68%) discussion regarding mother's health was infrequent. Children, on average, were first disclosed information at age 7 and had been aware of information for 3 years. Disclosure characteristics were related to demographics of mothers and children. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that children asked to keep disclosures secret tended to display more behavior problems than children not asked to keep secrets. However, the specificity of disclosure did not otherwise predict children's adaptive functioning.

This study examined risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology in a sample of 102 HIV-positive women. The magnitude of HIV-related PTSD symptoms was associated with a greater number of HIV-related physical symptoms, more extensive history of pre-HIV trauma, less perceived availability of social support, greater degree of perceived stigma, and greater degree of negative life events. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed three individual predictors of PTSD symptomatology: total impact of negative life events, total stigma score, and total number of present symptoms. Stigma emerged as the strongest individual predictor. Social support failed to moderate relationships between PTSD symptomatology and HIV-related physical symptoms and negative life events. These findings may inform helping professionals about risk factors associated with PTSD symptomatology in HIV-positive women.

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