“I Don't Want to Sit by You”: A Preliminary Study of Experiences and Consequences of Stigma and Discrimination from HIV-positive Mothers and Their Children

Abstract

This exploratory study seeks to recognize the voices of infected mothers and their uninfected children regarding their experiences and consequences of stigma and discrimination. Ten children and their HIVpositive mothers were interviewed to assess perceptions of stigma and discrimination, as well as emotional and educational functioning. Quantitative and qualitative methods indicated that infected mothers perceive greater levels of stigma and experienced a greater number of discriminatory acts than their uninfected children. Children's total stigma score was significantly correlated with levels of maternal anxiety and depression. Additionally, child reading levels were negatively correlated with their mothers' total stigma

A systematic review of measures of HIV/AIDS stigma in paediatric HIV‐infected and HIV‐affected populations

“…Seven unique studies had large sample sizes ( N >900): four studies with the same orphaned, vulnerable children and comparison children were conducted in China [31–34], and three were conducted in Africa [10,15,25]. Five of the studies focused on HIV-affected children [10,25,27,31,37], nine focused on HIV-infected children [16,19,21,23,24,26,28,29,36] and eight focused on comparing groups of HIV/AIDS orphans, orphans from other illnesses and vulnerable children [9,20,22,30,32–35]. …”

“…Seven unique studies administered stigma measures to HIV-affected children [9,15,20,22,27,30,35]. Two studies, Fair et al .…”

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

“…The social workers in this study asserted that children affected by HIV= AIDS often had significant behavioral or learning problems that needed to be addressed on an urgent basis. Fair and Brackett (2008) noted that few studies have addressed the effects of HIV stigma on such children's emotional and educational functioning. Our study suggests that stigma affects children's functioning through overt discrimination such as finger-pointing and namecalling when they are identified as ''those AIDS kids,'' as well as through more subtle indicators such as social distancing.…”

“…The study used qualitative methods from multiple sources to identify psychosocial stressors as reported by both providers and recipients of HIV services in the state. We followed the example of Brackis-Cott et al (2007) and Fair and Brackett (2008) in defining children affected by HIV=AIDS as minor dependents who reside with mothers living with HIV=AIDS. As the study progressed, we expanded the definition to include children residing with a sibling or a caregiver who was living with HIV=AIDS (e.g., mother, grandmother, or aunt) because these children were included in family assessments and in clinic reports to HRSA.…”

Suicidal Behavior and HIV/AIDS: A Partial Test of Joiner's Theory of Why People Die by Suicide

“…Feeling like an outsider in situations occurs in different age groups, younger people often feel others do not want to interact with them, do not welcome them, and in some cases exclude them from group activities (Hosek et al, 2008). In addition, young HIV-positive mothers have expressed that they and their children are not welcome in family situations and that they feel like they do not belong with their extended families (Fair & Brackett, 2008).…”