Introduction: Perinatally HIV-infected children are now surviving through adolescence with advances in antiretroviral therapy and medical health care; however, the nature of the disease may have a variety of impacts on their life. This study aimed to assess psychosocial problems and self-esteem in adolescents with perinatal HIV infection receiving antiretroviral therapy and to compare them with an age- and gender-matched control group.
Methods: A cross-sectional study of 11-18-year-old adolescents who had perinatal HIV infection was conducted. Healthy adolescents, 11-18 years of age, were enrolled as a comparison group. Psychosocial problems and self-esteem of the adolescents from both groups were assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Five-Scale Test of Self-Esteem for Children.
Results: There were 195 participants including 65 perinatally HIV-infected adolescents and 130 healthy controls enrolled to the study. The total psychosocial problem scores of adolescents with perinatal HIV infection were greater than those of their healthy peers without statistical significance. Significant differences were found in the peer problems subscale and prosocial behavior scores between the two groups. However, the total self-esteem scores of HIV-infected adolescents were significantly lower than those of the control group (46.14 vs. 50.35; p=0.003). There were moderate inverse correlations between the total problem scores and the total self-esteem scores in HIV-infected adolescents (r= -0.60; p=0.01).
Conclusion: Perinatally HIV-infected adolescents were at higher risk of developing low levels of self-esteem and greater psychosocial problems than healthy controls. Enhancing self-esteem may help with psychosocial difficulties in these adolescents.
