PSYCHIATRIC MORBIDITY IN SCHOOL-AGE-CHILDREN WITH CONGENITAL HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS INFECTION - A PILOT-STUDY

This study examined the relationship between human immunodeficiency vi rus (HIV) infection and psychiatric morbidity within the context of pr enatal drug exposure. Twenty-six HIV-infected, 14 seroreverted, and 20 control (non-HIV-exposed) children were studied; the sample consisted of nonreferred children living in foster placement who had been expos ed to maternal drug addiction. Each child received a psychiatric diagn ostic evaluation which included completion by the caretaker of a struc tured diagnostic interview and a behavior checklist on the child as we ll as a child self-report on a pictorial interview. Age, ethnicity, an d IQ were controlled in the analyses because of group differences. The re were high rates of behavioral and psychiatric morbidity, especially with respect to disruptive behavior disorders, in this sample of scho ol-age children with HIV infection, but similarly high rates were foun d in the seroreverted and non-HIV-exposed children. There was some sug gestion that the HIV-infected children were experiencing higher levels of subjective distress than either the nonexposed or seroreverted chi ldren. The possible relevance of drug exposure to the behavioral outco mes observed here is discussed, as well as the importance of using age -appropriate materials to elicit subjective distress in HIV-infected s chool-age children. Clinical implications and directions for further r esearch are discussed.