Children and adolescents living with HIV/Aids and their families: psychosocial aspects and coping

O estudo teve por objetivos: descrever aspectos sociodemográficos, médico-clínicos e da organização familiar de crianças e adolescentes soropositivos infectados pela transmissão vertical; descrever dificuldades e estressores percebidos pelos cuidadores sobre aspectos psicossociais e do tratamento para o HIV e analisar estratégias de enfrentamento utilizadas. Participaram 43 cuidadores primários, a maioria (N = 24) mães soropositivas; a idade variou de 18 a 68 anos. Os instrumentos incluíram entrevista semi-estruturada e a Escala Modos de Enfrentamento de Problemas (EMEP). Os resultados revelaram a presença de dificuldades em áreas como adesão ao tratamento, revelação do diagnóstico para a criança/adolescente e informação sobre o diagnóstico na escola. Quanto às estratégias de enfrentamento, houve predomínio de busca de práticas religiosas/pensamento fantasioso e focalização no problema, segundo escores da EMEP. O estudo indica a necessidade das equipes de saúde se qualificarem para atendimento a demandas psicossociais, visando atenção integral e interdisciplinar a familiares e crianças/adolescentes vivendo com HIV/aids.The objectives of this study were to describe socio-demographic and medical aspects of children and adolescents who acquired HIV infection during the prenatal period. It also intends to describe de organizational aspects of their families; to delineate difficulties and stressors perceived by caregivers based upon psychosocial and HIV-related issues, so that it became able to analyze coping strategies utilized, one of the main objectives of this paper. Forty-three primary caregivers took part in this research, most of them were mothers infected with HIV (24), between the ages of 18 and 68. The instruments used included a semi-structured interview and the Ways of Coping with Problems Scale (WCPS). The results revealed difficulties in areas such as adherence to treatment, disclosure of diagnosis to children/adolescents and providing of information about the diagnosis at school. With reference to the coping strategies, there was a predominance of search for religious practices/fantastical thoughts and problem focusing, according to the scores of the WCPS. The study corroborates the necessity for health care professionals to strive to sharpen their professional expertise to attend psychosocial demands, endeavoring to devote interdisciplinary attention to children and adolescents living with HIV/AIDS, as well as their family members