TY - JOUR
T1 - Factors Associated with Psychological Distress in Urban Mothers with Late-Stage HIV/AIDS
AU - Silver, Ellen Johnson
AU - Bauman, Laurie J.
AU - Camacho, Sheila
AU - Hudis, Jan
N1 - Funding Information:
Portions of this paper were presented in poster sessions at the Pediatric Academic Societies and American Academy of Pediatrics Joint Meeting, Boston, May 2000, and at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Annual Conference on the Role of Families in Preventing and Adapting to HIV/AIDS, Chicago, July 2000. The project was funded by a grant (MH55794) to Laurie J. Bauman, Ph.D., from the National Institute of Mental Health Office on AIDS, and we wish to thank Dr. Willo Pequegnat for her continuing support for this work and her dedication to research on families and AIDS. We are grateful to the Division of AIDS Services Income Support for their help in this effort and their ongoing commitment to people with HIV/AIDS. We also thank Barbara Draimin, DSW, Executive Director, and other staff of The Family Center, as well as the many interviewers who helped to collect the data and the families who gave their time in the hopes that providing their experiences would help others. Finally, we want to acknowledge the anonymous reviewers whose comments and suggestions contributed to the manuscript.
PY - 2003/12
Y1 - 2003/12
N2 - Factors associated with psychological distress were examined in 220 low-income, mostly minority mothers with late-stage HIV/AIDS. Mothers lived with at least one HIV-negative child of age 2-12 years and participated in a study of the effectiveness of a custody planning intervention provided by The Family Center. The mothers exhibited extraordinarily high levels of psychological disturbance on the Psychiatric Symptom Index (PSI). Multiple regression showed that higher PSI Total scores were significantly related to the mother's reports of having non-HIV-related medical conditions, spending time in bed in the past 2 weeks, having more activity restrictions, and having a lot of difficulty caring for her child due to ill health. Higher scores also were associated with lower education, experiencing more negative life events, and greater receipt and lower adequacy of social support. Thus, higher distress was associated with inability to perform usual activities and mobilization of support. However, other HIV-related health factors, traditional background characteristics, and psychosocial measures (e.g., HIV stigma, parenting stress, family environment) failed to indicate who was most vulnerable. Researchers need to identify the mechanisms of risk and develop appropriate mental health interventions.
AB - Factors associated with psychological distress were examined in 220 low-income, mostly minority mothers with late-stage HIV/AIDS. Mothers lived with at least one HIV-negative child of age 2-12 years and participated in a study of the effectiveness of a custody planning intervention provided by The Family Center. The mothers exhibited extraordinarily high levels of psychological disturbance on the Psychiatric Symptom Index (PSI). Multiple regression showed that higher PSI Total scores were significantly related to the mother's reports of having non-HIV-related medical conditions, spending time in bed in the past 2 weeks, having more activity restrictions, and having a lot of difficulty caring for her child due to ill health. Higher scores also were associated with lower education, experiencing more negative life events, and greater receipt and lower adequacy of social support. Thus, higher distress was associated with inability to perform usual activities and mobilization of support. However, other HIV-related health factors, traditional background characteristics, and psychosocial measures (e.g., HIV stigma, parenting stress, family environment) failed to indicate who was most vulnerable. Researchers need to identify the mechanisms of risk and develop appropriate mental health interventions.
KW - HIV/AIDS
KW - Mothers
KW - Psychological distress
KW - Social support
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U2 - 10.1023/B:AIBE.0000004734.21864.25
DO - 10.1023/B:AIBE.0000004734.21864.25
M3 - Article
C2 - 14707539
AN - SCOPUS:0346847465
SN - 1090-7165
VL - 7
SP - 421
EP - 431
JO - AIDS and Behavior
JF - AIDS and Behavior
IS - 4
ER -
