FAMILY MEMBERS UNCERTAINTY ABOUT PARENTAL CHRONIC ILLNESS - THE RELATIONSHIP OF HEMOPHILIA AND HIV-INFECTION TO CHILD FUNCTIONING

Examined the relationships among parental and child uncertainty about fathers' illnesses and child internalizing problems. Participants incl uded 65 families in which the father had hemophilia, approximately one half of the fathers also were HIV infected. Within each family, respo ndents included the father, the mother, and one child. Outcome variabl es included both self- and parent-reported child internalizing behavio rs. Results indicated that family members' illness uncertainty was int ercorrelated, that child uncertainty about the father's illness predic ted both anxiety and depressive symptoms in the child, and that mother 's uncertainty predicted child-reported anxiety beyond the child's unc ertainty.