Prediction of psychological distress in school-age children with HIV

This study examined the level of psychological distress in 61 children with HIV ages 6 to 11. Three domains of child psychological distress were measured by both caregiver and child report: separation anxiety, generalized anxiety, and depression. Information about caregiver's psychological distress was also collected. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the hypothesis that caregiver psychological distress would account for significant variance in child psychological distress beyond that accounted for by demographic and disease variables. This hypothesis was confirmed only for the caregiver's report of the child's psychological distress. The child's knowledge of his or her diagnosis affected both parent and child reports of the child's psychological distress.