Personality disturbance in adolescents living with HIV/AIDS: a review

This paper presents a review of theoretical and empirical research on personality disturbance in adolescents living with HIV/AIDS. First we discuss the relationship between mental health in adolescents and HIV/AIDS, and second we provide an overview of personality disturbance in adolescence with particular attention given to: (a) the prevalence and presence of personality disturbance in adolescents living with HIV/AIDS (b) the effect of personality disturbance on compliance on antiretroviral treatment and (c) stress of an HIV diagnosis in adolescents with personality disturbance. In conclusion treatment issues and recommendations are discussed.