Pathways to poor educational outcomes for HIV/AIDS-affected youth in South Africa

A recent systematic review of studies in the developing world has critically examined linkages from familial HIV/AIDS and associated factors such as poverty and child mental health to negative child educational outcomes. In line with several recommendations in the review, the current study modelled...

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Main Authors: Orkin, M., Boyes, Mark, Cluver, L., Zhang, Y.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Routledge 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/3765
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author Orkin, M.
Boyes, Mark
Cluver, L.
Zhang, Y.
author_facet Orkin, M.
Boyes, Mark
Cluver, L.
Zhang, Y.
author_sort Orkin, M.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description A recent systematic review of studies in the developing world has critically examined linkages from familial HIV/AIDS and associated factors such as poverty and child mental health to negative child educational outcomes. In line with several recommendations in the review, the current study modelled relationships between familial HIV/AIDS, poverty, child internalising problems, gender and four educational outcomes: non-enrolment at school, non-attendance, deficits in grade progression and concentration problems. Path analyses reveal no direct associations between familial HIV/AIDS and any of the educational outcomes. Instead, HIV/AIDS-orphanhood or caregiver HIV/AIDS-sickness impacted indirectly on educational outcomes via the poverty and internalising problems that they occasioned. This has implications for evidence-based policy inferences. For instance, by addressing such intervening variables generally, rather than by seeking to target families affected by HIV/AIDS, interventions could avoid exacerbating stigmatisation, while having a more direct and stronger impact on children's educational outcomes. This analytic approach also suggests that future research should seek to identify causal paths, and may include other intervening variables related to poverty (such as child housework and caring responsibilities) or to child mental health (such as stigma and abuse), that are linked to both familial HIV/AIDS and educational outcomes.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-37652017-09-13T14:44:01Z Pathways to poor educational outcomes for HIV/AIDS-affected youth in South Africa Orkin, M. Boyes, Mark Cluver, L. Zhang, Y. HIV/AIDS poverty mental health schooling children psychosocial factors education A recent systematic review of studies in the developing world has critically examined linkages from familial HIV/AIDS and associated factors such as poverty and child mental health to negative child educational outcomes. In line with several recommendations in the review, the current study modelled relationships between familial HIV/AIDS, poverty, child internalising problems, gender and four educational outcomes: non-enrolment at school, non-attendance, deficits in grade progression and concentration problems. Path analyses reveal no direct associations between familial HIV/AIDS and any of the educational outcomes. Instead, HIV/AIDS-orphanhood or caregiver HIV/AIDS-sickness impacted indirectly on educational outcomes via the poverty and internalising problems that they occasioned. This has implications for evidence-based policy inferences. For instance, by addressing such intervening variables generally, rather than by seeking to target families affected by HIV/AIDS, interventions could avoid exacerbating stigmatisation, while having a more direct and stronger impact on children's educational outcomes. This analytic approach also suggests that future research should seek to identify causal paths, and may include other intervening variables related to poverty (such as child housework and caring responsibilities) or to child mental health (such as stigma and abuse), that are linked to both familial HIV/AIDS and educational outcomes. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/3765 10.1080/09540121.2013.824533 Routledge fulltext
spellingShingle HIV/AIDS
poverty
mental health
schooling
children
psychosocial factors
education
Orkin, M.
Boyes, Mark
Cluver, L.
Zhang, Y.
Pathways to poor educational outcomes for HIV/AIDS-affected youth in South Africa
title Pathways to poor educational outcomes for HIV/AIDS-affected youth in South Africa
title_full Pathways to poor educational outcomes for HIV/AIDS-affected youth in South Africa
title_fullStr Pathways to poor educational outcomes for HIV/AIDS-affected youth in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Pathways to poor educational outcomes for HIV/AIDS-affected youth in South Africa
title_short Pathways to poor educational outcomes for HIV/AIDS-affected youth in South Africa
title_sort pathways to poor educational outcomes for hiv/aids-affected youth in south africa
topic HIV/AIDS
poverty
mental health
schooling
children
psychosocial factors
education
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/3765