Extracurricular interest as a resilience building block for children affected by parental HIV/AIDS

Abstract

Parental illness and death due to human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) impose challenges to children's psychological adjustment. Positive psychology emphasizes individual's resilience in the face of adversity, trauma, and tragedy. Limited data are available regarding the factors that can cultivate resilience of children affected by HIV/AIDS. This study aims to examine the role of extracurricular interest in strengthening resilience among children affected by HIV/AIDS. Participants included 755 children orphaned by parental HIV/AIDS, 466 vulnerable children living with HIV-positive parent(s), and 404 comparison children from HIV-free families in the same community in rural China. The measures include extracurricular interest (i.e., reading, sports, music, painting, science, and playing chess) and indicators of psychological adjustment (i.e., depression, loneliness, and self-esteem). Having extracurricular interest was positively associated with self-esteem and negatively associated with depression and loneliness. Having extracurricular interest attenuated the negative effect of parental HIV/AIDS on children's self-esteem and loneliness, after controlling for children's age, gender, and family socioeconomic status. The findings underscore the importance of nurturing extracurricular interest and make available of such activities to promote resilience for children affected by HIV/AIDS in resource-limited settings.