Obsessive-compulsive disorder and fear of AIDS contamination in childhood.

Two cases of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in prepubertal children are described in which the predominant obsessive ruminations relate to fear of acquired immune deficiency (AIDS) contamination. The findings in these cases are discussed in relation to known demographic and clinical profiles of OCD in children and adolescents. Fear of AIDS contamination in childhood OCD may reflect the effect of the current emphasis on AIDS in potentially vulnerable children with environmental influences giving the symptoms their specific content.

Marital intimacy in parents of exceptional children.

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of perceived parenting stress and parental depression on marital intimacy between parents of handicapped children versus developmentally normal children, and to investigate discrepancies between husbands' and wives' reports of marital intimacy. The parents of 31 autistic children, 31 Down Syndrome children and 62 developmentally normal children, matched for both mental and chronological age were studied. Results indicated significantly greater stress and depression, as well as lower marital intimacy for mothers of autistic children than mothers of normal children, and significantly greater stress than mothers of Down Syndrome children who fell somewhere between other groups of parents in all three measures. Fathers of autistic children experienced significantly higher parenting stress than the other groups, as well as lower marital intimacy but there were no differences amongst fathers on measures of depression. Low scores on subscales of identity and compatibility for mothers implying low self esteem contributed significantly to the lowered perception of marital intimacy. Implications for intervention, based on these findings, are discussed.