Children, adolescents, and families infected and affected by HIV and AIDS

Abstract

An estimated 80,000 to 125,000 children in the United States will be orphaned by the year 2000 as a result of an HIV related illness. Studies have found that the support of a surviving parent is positively associated with the grieving child's ability to cope with the loss of the other parent. HIV/AIDS affected children often do not have another parent available to them. This article will review some of the issues, struggles, and reactions of children and adolescents who have been affected and infected by HIV. The material is illustrated by two cases, one of a child and an adolescent affected by HIV and the second a child and an adolescent infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.