A qualitative study conducted in Botswana, on the discussion of sexual health with children, shows that keeping family secrets from children, including those related to a parent’s HIV status, can be detrimental to their psychological well-being and to the structure of the family.
Findings revealed that most parents found it hard to disclose their status to children, others did not disclose at all (Ostrom et al. 2016). Nicholay et al. (2010) provided literature on cultural beliefs on single parents in South Africa, explains that their cultural beliefs make them not to disclose their HIV positive status to their children.
Moreover, apart from proper guidelines, there are structural factors that include guidelines based on cultural factors, national realities and individual family circumstances, such as its communication style. Research shows that keeping family secrets from children, including those related to a parent’s HIV status, can be detrimental to their psychological well-being and to the structure of the family.
