Custody plans among parents living with human immunodeficiency virus infection.
OBJECTIVE
To describe and to examine predictors of making custody plans by parents living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.


METHODS
The custody plans of 296 parents living with HIV for 708 children were examined over 5 years, with at least 85% reassessed annually.


RESULTS
Over time, increasing numbers of parents living with HIV made custody plans for all of their children (23.8%-52.8%), typically with extended family members. However, parents change plans frequently, and 44.8% of parents living with HIV died without custody plans. Custody planning was less likely in families with only adolescent children, when parents had a partner, or when parents were depressed. Parents' disclosure of HIV status, physical health status, substance use, and ethnicity were unrelated to making custody plans.


CONCLUSIONS
Custody planning is a slow and unstable process in families affected by HIV.
Rotheram-Borus
Mary Jane
MJ
AIDS Institute, Center for HIV Identification, Prevention, and Treatment Services, University of California, Los Angeles 90094-6521, USA. Rotheram@ucla.edu
Lester
Patricia
P
Wang
Pin-Wen
PW
Shen
Qing
Q
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002655:Child Custody / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012042:Registries; D013997:Time Factors; D014918:Wills / Q000706:statistics & numerical data