Domestic violence and the adolescent that was infected with HIV through vertical transmission: analysis of protection and vulnerability factors

The scope of this study was to analyze protection and vulnerability factors in physical and psychological domestic violence among adolescents infected with HIV/AIDS through vertical transmission. This group is especially susceptible as they have vulnerability factors such as chronic disease, orphanhood with consequent change of caregivers and impaired body image. The research was conducted in a public hospital. The first stage used the Parent Child Conflict Tactics and the Degree of Psychological Violence Scale to determine what domestic violence occurred. In the second qualitative stage, the adolescents who scored the most or the least for violence in the quantitative instrument were interviewed. The questionnaires and the interviews revealed a high prevalence of physical and psychological violence and abusive domestic dynamics, thereby corroborating the extant literature. In view of the consequences of this kind of violence, it is essential that the health professional should be able to identify violent situations and recognize vulnerability factors and to promote protection factors against ill-treatment.