Tanu's Research Blog

Children and Adolescents Living with HIV and AIDS

HIV is a global health threat of significance to child and adolescent psychology and psychiatry. The rapidly expanding literature on paediatric AIDS and HIV documents the consequences of the epidemic in the care and development of youth infected by HIV and in the change of risk behaviour among the infected and uninfected. HIV is the prototypical biophysical disease and there is important research at every organizational level from the cellular to the societal.

The psychological effects of HIV infection on children range from mild to devastating. Neurologic and neuropsychological deficits resulting from HIV infection have been well characterized. Emotional or behavioural abnormalities, including social problems, anxiety, depression, and general behaviour problems, have been noted in 12% to 44% of HIV-infected children.

One of the most widespread clinical observations is that HIV-infected children present with high rates of symptoms of attention-deficit disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, few studies on attention deficits in HIV-infected children have found high rates of ADHD in both groups with no association between attention-deficit disorder/ADHD and HIV disease. Therefore one needs to understand the cause of behavioural problems in HIV-infected children for improving their mental health and quality of life.

A research study has thus been carried out to focus on the psychosocial development of the HIV-infected children and to examine the combined influences of HIV and the socio-demographic characteristics on their behaviour. This research provided solid approach for identifying relevant disorders, enhancing medical care and promoting successful adaptations of patients and families.

For further details please refer to this paper.

Posted at 06:36PM Apr 14, 2008 by Tanushree Banerjee in Research  |  Comments[0]