AIDSImpact.com:: - Santa Fe, USA 2011

Abstract #296 - The impact of parental AIDS-sickness on South African adolescents’ educational participation
Authors: Presenting Author: Dr Frederick Orkin - University of the Witwatersrand
Additional Authors: Dr. Lucie Cluver,
Aim: Much of sub-Saharan literature regarding the impacts of HIV and AIDS upon the educational participation of children focusses on orphanhood. However, impacts arise long before the death of the parent(s) (Pridmore, 2008; Andrews et al., 2006). Household income drops and healthcare expenditure rises, often among already-poor families. This jeopardises spending on schooling. Children may be called upon to help care for the sick (especially girls), take over household tasks, or earn wages. Additionally, they may be fatigued by the extra burdens, and stressed by having a parent die (Booysen and Arntz, 2007). In South Africa, among black African adults of the age (30-59 years) who could have adolescent children in school, HIV prevalence is nearly 20% (HSRC, 2008). However, in most previous studies (a) the distinction between parental AIDS-sickness and other-sickness has been inexplicit; (b) the possible impacts on children’s education of adults’ sickness prior to death have not generally been measured; (c) there has been inadequate differentiation of possible educational impacts – drop-out, attending irregularly, and concentrating badly in class – of having an sick parent or carer; (d) the various possible pathways, mentioned above, have not been clarified. This paper seeks to remedy these four deficiencies, and thereby contribute to better targeted policy and intervention.
Method / Issue: 730 black African adolescents aged 13-19 years from poor households primarily in urban South Africa were interviewed in 2009 using educational and standardised psychological measures. Education outcomes of enrolment in school, regularity of attendance, and concentration problems in class were compared across adolescents living with AIDS-sick, other-sick and healthy parents. Socio-demographic co-factors – notably poverty (indexed by food insecurity), psychological disorder (depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress), adolescents’ care work, and gender – were included in multiple regression and log-linear models.
Results / Comments: Multiple regression showed that parental AIDS-sickness predicted the adolescents’ non-enrolment (p=.05), non-attendance (p=.003), and concentration problems during class (p<.001); whereas other-sick and healthy parents did not. Log-linear analysis and consequent tabulations with chi-squared tests indicated that parental AIDS-sickness, itself associated with greater poverty, (i) was significantly associated with reduced enrolment; (ii) impacted on irregular attendance via increased care-work at home (itself associated more with girls than boys); and (iii) increased the adolescents’ distraction in class via heightening their psychological disorder (which was also associated with poverty, and more with girls than boys).
Discussion: Parents’ (or care-givers’) AIDS-illness prior to their death bears significantly more strongly than other- or non-sickness on adolescents’ educational participation – enrolment, attendance and attention – and through varied pathways. These educational findings illustrate the force and intricacy of the impacts of AIDS at the societal, familial and personal levels, instanced in this study by poverty, care-work and psychological disorder. This empirical elaboration may assist in improving the focus of policies for home and school to mitigate the vulnerability of AIDS-affected adolescents.
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