Correlates of Psychological Distress Among Mothers of Children and Adolescents with Hemophilia and HIV Infection

Evaluated the correlates of mood state (psychological distress)in a multisite study of two groups: (a) mothers of HIV–positivechildren and adolescents with hemophilia (n=91), and (b) mothersof HIV –negative children and adolescents with hemophilia(n=92). Socioeconomic status, quality of family relationshipsupport, and frequency of negative life events accounted forsignificant variance in Total Mood Disturbance (psychologicaldistress) as measured by the Profile of Mood States in the overallsample. Severity of hemophilia was unrelated to distress. Asignificant interaction between HIV status and frequency ofstressful life events indicated that this variable related morestrongly to distress among mothers of HIV–infected childrenand adolescents with hemophilia than among mothers of HIV–negativechildren with hemophilia. Findings suggest that the presenceof HIV infection in their children and adolescents may hightenthe impact of negative life events on the psychological distressexperienced by these mothers.