YOUNG AIDS ORPHANS--PROSPECTIVE BEREAVEMENT

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The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has estimated that 80,000 HIV-infected women of childbearing age who were alive in 1992 will leave approximately 125,000 to 150,000 children orphaned. Parental death from causes other than IDS has been consistently associated with poor child adjustment, long term mental health symptoms, and behavioral problems. These problems are likely to be exacerbated for children orphaned by AIDS, given the stigmatization of the disease, the frequent lack of a surviving parent, and proverty. There have been no prospective studies of child bereavement from any type of parental death, including death from AIDS. Therefore, the adjustment of 120 children age 6-11 who have a mother with AIDS (MWA) will be monitored over time; children and their MWAs will be recruited from primary health care clinics in Los Angeles (LA). The specific goals of this study are to: (1) to longitudinally follow the mental health, behavioral, and social adjustment of children of MWAs over 36 months, throughout the illness of the MWA, her death, and during the child's transition to a new guardian; (2) identify characteristics of the child that may mediate the impact of parental loss, including background factors, skills (problem solving, coping, and self-valuing), and their relationship with the MWA and later with their new guardian; and (3) evaluate characteristics of the MWA and then of the new guardian that may mediate th impact of parental loss, including background factors and parenting skills. This study will benefit both adult and child researchers. It will provide guidelines for interventions for MWAs of young children on how to parent effectively and improve family functioning while coping with multiple stressors, including physical symptoms and end-stage disease state. More importantly, findings from this study will provide a developmentally-linked description over time bereavement process for children whose parents die of other causes. Additionally, evaluation of children's long-term adjustment (mental health, behavioral, and social outcomes), will assist in detemining resiliency factors and risk factors for children who are orphaned by ADS.