title: It's harder for boys? Children's representations of their HIV/AIDS-affected peers in Zimbabwe.
abstract: This study examines whether children in rural Zimbabwe have differing representations of their HIV/AIDS-affected peers based on the gender of those peers. A group of 128 children (58 boys, 70 girls) aged 10-14 participated in a draw-and-write exercise, in which they were asked to tell the story of either an HIV/AIDS-affected girl child, or an HIV/AIDS-affected boy child. Stories were inductively thematically coded, and then a post hoc statistical analysis was conducted to see if there were differences in the themes that emerged in stories about girls versus stories about boys. The results showed that boys were more often depicted as materially deprived, without adult and teacher support, and heavily burdened with household duties. Further research is needed to determine whether the perceptions of the children in this study point to a series of overlooked challenges facing HIV/AIDS-affected boys, or to a culture of gender inequality facing HIV/AIDS-affected girls - which pays more attention to male suffering than to female suffering.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Social Psychology , The London School of Economics and Political Science , UK.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: LeRoux-Rutledge
authors.affiliation: a Department of Social Psychology , The London School of Economics and Political Science , UK.
authors.forename: Madeleine A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Guerlain
authors.affiliation: a Department of Social Psychology , The London School of Economics and Political Science , UK.
authors.forename: Louise B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.affiliation: b Biomedical Research and Training Institute , Zimbabwe.
authors.forename: Claudius
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Madanhire
authors.affiliation: b Biomedical Research and Training Institute , Zimbabwe.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mutsikiwa
authors.affiliation: b Biomedical Research and Training Institute , Zimbabwe.|c Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology , Imperial College School of Public Health , UK.
authors.forename: Constance
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nyamukapa
authors.affiliation: d Department of Public Health , University of Copenhagen , Denmark.
authors.forename: Morten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Skovdal
authors.affiliation: b Biomedical Research and Training Institute , Zimbabwe.|c Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology , Imperial College School of Public Health , UK.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gregson
authors.affiliation: a Department of Social Psychology , The London School of Economics and Political Science , UK.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Campbell
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D054540:Child, Orphaned; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D011287:Prejudice; D012424:Rural Population; D012574:Schools; D012737:Sex Factors; D012919:Social Behavior; D012934:Social Isolation; D012941:Social Responsibility; D057545:Social Stigma; D012944:Social Support; D013240:Stereotyping; D015030:Zimbabwe
keywords: HIV/AIDS; Zimbabwe; children; coping; gender; suffering