HIV PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS

The Psychological Effects Encountered by Mothers Nursing Children with HIV/AIDS in Africa Specifically in Zambia

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION3

Research Hypothesis4

LITERATURE REVIEW5

METHODOLOGY AND METHODS8

PROPOSAL12

The Selection of Research Tools12

Data Collection Procedure13

The Analysis of Psychological Effects on Nursing Mothers13

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS15

END NOTES16

APPENDIX18

INTRODUCTION

According to diverse sources, approximately 2 million children suffer from the chronic disease like AIDS in diverse countries of the world. Among these children, most of the victims acquired infection from their mothers during pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding, while about 10% of the children were infected with HIV in medical settings. Between 2005 and 2007, 139 children and 13 of their mothers were diagnosed as HIV positive in the city of Zambia in Africa. They were infected in hospitals due to unsterile instruments and infusions of untested blood. Most children were under the age of 3 years at the time of infection (Komar, 2007). About 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV infection. Five million new cases of HIV infection occurred in 2005.

HIV is a retrovirus, which means that it stores its genetic information in the form of RNA and is able to transcribe this information backward into DNA. In contrast, most viruses and all living cells store genetic information in DNA. HIV carries, inside its protein coat, two molecules of an enzyme known as reverse transcriptase, which makes DNA from the genetic information in its RNA. HIV also carries an integrase enzyme, which helps the DNA insert into the host chromosomes, and a special protease enzyme that helps process the protein coat of a newly synthesized virus. Because of reverse transcriptase and integrase, HIV can insert DNA copies of itself into the chromosomes of victims. This is similar to the way some transposable genetic elements operate within the genomes of complex organisms. The purpose of this paper is to enlighten and explore psychological effects encountered by the mothers nursing children with HIV in Africa; especially Zambia. This paper aims to explore diverse psychological effects of children with HIV on their mothers that serve as their nurses.

Research Hypothesis

Ho: The psychological effects of nursing mothers are not significantly correlated with the occurrence of HIV in children.

H1: The psychological effects of nursing mothers are significantly correlated with the occurrence of HIV in children.

LITERATURE REVIEW

A generic parenting model assumes that the parents' cognitive and emotional characteristics, and the relationship between the parents, affect parenting. HIV spreads primarily through sexual contact, and secondarily through contaminated needles. This is because the virus is inactivated by contact with dry conditions or atmospheric levels of oxygen. In Africa, HIV spreads primarily through sexual contact between men and women. In Africa, it originally spread through homosexual contact among males, primarily because of the way it was first introduced. Its spread is no longer limited to a single mode of sexual contact, and its prevalence among African women has increased. In Africa the contaminated needles that spread HIV are often used in inadequately equipped hospitals, while in Zambia this mode of spread is primarily through needles used by drug ...