HIV is a family disease. Willo Pequegnat and colleagues reminds us that for every person infected with HIV there are associated parents, siblings, partners, and other people who are likewise affected by HIV. Research for the purpose of developing and testing HIV care and prevention interventions has been at the individual and community level. Few studies have addressed HIV in the context of family, family structure, or family-oriented interventions. Researchers in this arena are challenged by methodological difficulties, complexities in family interactions, issues of aggregation, and cultural diversity issues.

An epidemiological perspective of HIV/AIDS, family and family structure within the context of HIV/AIDS, and previous National Institutes of Health (NIH) family-HIV research initiatives as a framework to assess the state of the science are discussed. Finally, ...