The Psychosocial and Clinical Well-Being of Women Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/AIDS

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Key points

  • Depression in women living with human immunodeficiency virus/AIDS is associated with poor adherence to treatment, and it negatively impacts quality of life.

  • Spirituality/religiosity is important for many women living with human immunodeficiency virus/AIDS and is positively associated with coping, health practices, and health outcomes.

  • In the present study, women living with human immunodeficiency virus/AIDS who reported depression had poorer health outcomes, greater perceived stress, and more

Depression and Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Depression is a major public health problem among people is duplicate of PLWH—particularly women and African Americans.9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 Depression rates are as high as 67% among WLWHA19, 24 and up to 64% among African American women with HIV.26, 27, 28 Studies identified high rates of depression in HIV-positive African American women (43%) and in predominantly African American samples of PLWH (57%).9, 10, 11, 29, 30 Yet, there are no known interventions that

Participants and Procedures

A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of WLWHA. Participants were recruited from an outpatient infectious disease clinic at a large university-affiliated health center and 2 AIDS service organizations in the Southeastern United States. Approval was obtained from the university’s institutional review board and subjects were recruited using fliers that described the study purpose, procedures, eligibility criteria, and contained the contact information for study staff.

Sample Characteristics

Sample characteristics are given in Table 1. The majority of participants were African American/Black (n = 118 [92%]), heterosexual (n = 91 [72%]), had at least a high school education (n = 73 [58%]), and made less than $11,000/y (n = 89 [79%]). Most participants self-identified as religious (n = 119 [94%]) or spiritual (n = 121 [96%]), self-identified as Christian (n = 108 [92%]), prayed at least once per week (n = 106 [84%]), and attended church at least once each month (n = 97 [77%]). There

Discussion

This study examined differences in psychosocial health outcomes between depressed and nondepressed WLWHA and examined the factors that explained depressive symptoms, perceived stress, mental quality of life, and emotional well-being in a sample of 129, predominantly African American WLWHA. Sixty-three percent reported depressive symptoms, which is consistent with findings from other studies with depression rates as high as 67% among women living with HIV19, 24 and up to 64% among African

Summary

High rates of depressive symptoms were present and negatively associated with health outcomes. Religious involvement (particularly religious coping) was related to the severity of depressive symptoms, perceived stress, quality of life, and emotional well-being. Social support, although associated with these mental health outcomes, did not seem to moderate these relationships. These findings underscore the need for nurses and other health care providers to regularly screen WLWHA for and

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