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Child adjustment and parenting were examined in twenty-three 9-16-year-old youth from families affected by maternal HIV infection and 20 same-age peers whose mothers were not infected. Children whose mothers were seropositive reported significantly more externalizing problems. Infected mothers reported less age-appropriate supervision/monitoring relative to non-infected mothers. Better mother-child relationship quality and less impairment in parental supervision/ monitoring of age-appropriate youth behaviors were associated with fewer externalizing difficulties among the HIV-positive group only. Similarly, only among HIV-infected mothers was refraining from engaging in inconsistent disciplinary tactics associated with lower reports of internalizing and externalizing problems. These data highlight the promise of programs targeting parenting skills to prevent or ameliorate child difficulties. Keywords Parenting * Parent-child relationship * HIV/AIDS * Child adjustment * Maternal illness

HIV-infected mothers face the challenging decision of whether to disclose their serostatus to their children. From the perspective of both mother and child, we explored the process of disclosure, providing descriptive information and examining the relationships among disclosure, demographic variables, and child adjustment. Participants were 23 mothers and one of their noninfected children (9 to 16 years of age). Sixty-one percent of mothers disclosed. Consistent with previous research, disclosure was not related to child functioning. However, children sworn to secrecy demonstrated lower social competence and more externalizing problems. Differential disclosure, which occurred in one-third of the families, was associated with higher levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms. Finally, knowing more than mothers had themselves disclosed was related to child maladjustment across multiple domains. Clinical implications and the need for future research are considered. Keywords Disclosure * Secrecy HIV/AIDS * Child adjustment * Maternal illness

Parentification, along with parenting and child adjustment, were examined in 23 9-through 16-year-old youth from families affected by maternal HIV infection and 20 same-age peers whose mothers were not infected. Children whose mothers were HIV-positive reported to more often engage in parental role behaviors, relative to children of HIV-negative mothers. This difference remained even after controlling for the effects of current drug use, number of adults per child in the household, and marital status. Findings revealed a beneficial relationship between parentification and both child adjustment and parenting, particularly among families affected by maternal HIV infection. When relationships were examined separately by HIV status, the pattern of results suggested that parentification, which involves increased emotional closeness, rather than role-related tasks, which may involve increased responsibility of household maintenance, seems to foster an association with concurrent positive parenting and child adjustment among families coping with HIV/AIDS. Directions for future research, including the need for methodological advances in the field are discussed. Keywords Parentification * HIV/AIDS * Child adjustment * Parenting * Parental illness

Although the college years prove to be a vulnerable time for students and a critical period for suicide prevention, few school-based prevention strategies have been empirically evaluated. The current study examined the short-term effects of Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR), a gatekeeper training program that teaches how to recognize warning signs, question suicidal intent, listen to problems, and refer for help. One hundred twenty-two residence advisers (RAs) who were trained in QPR demonstrated significant post-training gains across a variety of domains relevant to suicide and suicide prevention, with 60 who completed the follow-up assessment showing sustained knowledge and appraisals into the following semester. Although these gains were generally more substantial for RAs trained in QPR, 86 controls who completed both baseline and follow-up assessments also demonstrated changes in appraisals relevant to suicide and suicide prevention, despite having not received QPR training. Editors' Strategic Implications this study provides some promising evidence on gatekeeper training for RAs in terms of suicide prevention knowledge and attitudes. As the authors note, replication, rigorous evaluation, and studies of systemic efforts and behavioral outcomes are needed.