BEHAVIORAL ADAPTATION TO HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS SEROPOSITIVE STATUS IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH HEMOPHILIA

Objective.-To examine the behavioral adaptation to human immunodeficie ncy virus (HIV)-seropositive status, as defined by parental report, in children and adolescents with hemophilia. Research Design.-A clinical descriptive study of two groups of patients as part of a longitudinal design. Setting.-A university-based comprehensive hemophilia center a nd department of neurology acquired immunodeficiency syndrome dementia center. Patients.-Forty-six male children with hemophilia divided int o two groups based on HIV-seropositive (n=18) or -seronegative (n=28) status. None of the patients were symptomatic for acquired immunodefic iency syndrome. Selection Procedures.-All pediatric patients with docu mented factor VIII or IX deficiency aged between 4 and 19 years at stu dy onset and their families were eligible to participate. All subjects were recruited without regard to human immunodeficiency virus status. Interventions.-None. Measurements and Results.-Profiles of behavioral adjustment were obtained from parents' reports on the Child Behavior Checklist for the HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative groups. The tw o groups did not differ on any of the major indexes of the Child Behav ior Checklist, even after adjusting for maternal education and severit y of hemophilia. There also was no difference between the groups when individual cases were examined for the number of child behavior checkl ist scales falling within a clinically significant range. Conclusions. -The current findings fail to confirm any clear evidence of behavioral problems in an asymptomatic group of HIV-seropositive children and ad olescents with hemophilia.