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.
children and adolescents living with HIV/AIDS; acquired HIV infection during prenatal period; primary caregivers; family; coping
