[Secrecy in children with HIV infection]

The secrecy surrounding the disease of parents and children infected with HIV leads to psychic and affective isolation and difficulties of communication within the family. Psychological management may possibly help to resolve the problem of secrecy between parents and children. We analyzed the organization and dynamics of the secret surrounding children contaminated by their mothers. The analysis was prospective and was based on semi-directive interviews and drawings. We followed up, over a period of two years, ten children (mean age: 4 years, range: 4 months to 12 years) with different ethnic and socio economic backgrounds. In each family, the child was the target of the secret, the pediatrician the guardian, and the mother (or her substitute) the keeper. The organization of the secret around the other potential guardians varied from one family to another. Two modes of intra-family communication were observed: the secret (reserved for the youngest children) and the tacit. One child suffered from a disorder related to the secret, the others had depressive and reactional symptoms. At the end of the study, the manner of approaching, and especially dealing with, the question of the secret had changed appreciably in each family: disclosure to the family circle (three cases), passage of the child from the secret to the tacit (two cases), and easier questioning of the pediatrician in all of the cases. Nonetheless, in no case had the secret been completely lifted for the child. Four children asked to continue psychological management. The changes in the dynamics of the secret and the appeasement observed in the families suggest that psychotherapeutic aid should be offered to families where a child has been contaminated with HIV by the mother.