In 2014, 2.3 million children were orphaned due to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)-related illness (South Africa Department of Human Development Fact Sheet, 2015). Still, there is limited information on the... [ view full abstract ]
In 2014, 2.3 million children were orphaned due to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)-related illness (South Africa Department of Human Development Fact Sheet, 2015). Still, there is limited information on the emotional and behavioral problems that AIDS-orphaned children experience. In 2011 in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, a Non-government organization (NGO) provided multilayered interventions with forty-nine orphans, which nearly half were orphaned due to parental AIDS. Group observations of the children’s behaviors and emotions were observed and recorded by the NGO staff over a four-month period. This qualitative archival data was analyzed. In 2015, thirty-six of the forty-nine caregivers were interviewed regarding the children’s behavioral adjustment within the community since 2011. Further, NGO staff whom interacted with the children weekly were interviewed to provide multiple perspectives of the children’s adjustment. The literature supports the argument that parental death related to HIV/AIDS has a greater impact on the children’s psychosocial development. Cluver, Orkin, Garner, and Boyes (2012), discovered orphaned children, as a result of parental death due to AIDS, had higher rates of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and anxiety compared to children who were not orphaned or children orphaned due to other factors other than AIDS. The two studies identified multiple themes, which included child bereavement of parent’s absence, ongoing mood changes, and increased need and desire for physical or tactical attention. As the children age, environmental factors such as poverty, deficits in educational systems, and lack of healthily recreational opportunities increased risk factors to all the children equally. However, these studies demonstrated that with multilayered interventions children orphaned due to parental AIDS had a similar behavioral and emotional adjustment as the children orphaned due to other causes. This suggests that children who receive interventions may increase protective factors resulting in enhanced child well-being and psychosocial development.
