Mothers with HIV/AIDS and their children: Disclosure and guardianship issues

For many mothers living with HIV/AIDS, whether, when, and how to disclose t heir HIV diagnosis to their children and arranging for future care are impo rtant although agonizing issues. Due to the increasing number of children w ho lose their mothers to AIDS and the dearth of empirical information about them, these issues are increasingly important to research. This study of 1 88 HIV-positive mothers and their 267 children of minor age in New York Cit y revealed that only half the mothers had disclosed their HIV diagnosis to at least one of their children and only 57% had made formal plans for the c hildren's care. As expected, older children were more likely to be informed than younger children. Contrary to some previous research, maternal disclo sure was not related to ethnicity, advanced illness, improved psychological well-being, or greater or more satisfying social support resources. Implic ations for future research and provision of services to this group of women are discussed.