Child-mother attachments in the face of grandparent HIV. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Child-mother attachment, as observed in the Strange Situation (SSP), was assessed in 61 families affected by HIV and 18 neighborhood comparison families not affected by HIV, but of similar ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Children were aged one to three years at the assessment. Secure attachment was significantly less likely among children in the HIV-affected group than among comparison group children (36% versus 67%). The most common pattern of attachment in the HIV-affected group was disorganized/disoriented, observed in 41% of children (versus 22% of comparison children). Children from families that included a surviving grandparent with HIV showed disorganized attachments more often than children whose grandparents died (53% versus 36%). Child attachment classifications were not associated with families' participation in a family-based, cognitive-behavioral HIV intervention. These results document the inter-generational impact of young mothers' who were growing up with an HIV-infected parent. These findings suggest that families affected by HIV may benefit from interventions that address attachment issues.

publication date

  • July 19, 2016

Research

keywords

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
  • Grandparents
  • HIV Infections
  • Mother-Child Relations
  • Mothers
  • Object Attachment

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 84978745378

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1080/14616734.2016.1189639

PubMed ID

  • 27434834

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 18

issue

  • 5