THE IMPACT OF TEACHERS’ HIV STIGMA ON THE SCHOOL ADJUSTMENT OF CHILDREN AFFECTED

BY HIV/AIDS: A MULTILEVEL STUDY IN RURAL CHINA

Traci L. Weinstein1, Xiaoming Li1, Hongfei Du1, Peilian Chi1, Junfeng Zhao2, Guoxiang Zhao2, & Shan Qiao1

1 Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA2 Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, China

BACKGROUND Educational success has been found to be a main

indicator of individual well-being for diverse student group

School adjustment is an essential component of school success, and is especially important for children who have parents affected by HIV

Little research to date has examined the impact of teacher attitudes on the school adjustment of these children

Thus, the purpose of the current study is to examine the hypothesis that teachers’ HIV stigma will be related to the school adjustment of children affected by HIV/AIDS in rural China

METHODS Data came from a study of multi-systemic impacts

on the psychosocial and educational needs of children affected by HIV conducted in rural China

The sample consisted of 247 children affected by HIV (119 girls) and 43 teachers Of the 247 children:

121 children were living with HIV-positive parents 126 children had lost parents to the disease

The average age of children was 12.22 years (SD = 2.19)

METHODS Children completed an assessment inventory of

demographic information Gender, age, and various school outcome

measures

Teachers completed a 10-item HIV stigma questionnaire about their own attitudes towards children affected by HIV Should these children quit school? Should these children play with other children? Do these children deserve sympathy? Are these children unclean?

RESULTS Multilevel analyses using hierarchical linear

modeling

Findings indicate that teacher HIV stigma predicted children’s self-reported school adjustment

Higher teacher stigma was related to worse child school adjustment

Age and gender of children were not significant variables for this sample

IMPLICATIONS The findings suggest that teacher attitudes are an

important factor that impacts the school adjustment of children affected by HIV

Services targeting children affected by HIV should consider risk factors in the school context

Interventions for children affected by HIV/AIDS should specifically target the attitudes of teachers working with these students

This study holds implications for prevention and intervention efforts for children with HIV-affected parents

Q&A