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Social support, stigma, and social problem solving may be mediators of the relationship between sign and symptom severity and depressive symptoms in people living with HIV (PLWH). However, no published studies have examined these individual variables as mediators in PLWH. This cross-sectional, correlational study of 150 PLWH examined whether social support, stigma, and social problem solving were mediators of the relationship between HIV-related sign and symptom severity and depressive symptoms. Participants completed self-report questionnaires during their visits at two HIV outpatient clinics in the Southeastern United States. Using multiple regression analyses as a part of mediation testing, social support, stigma, and social problem solving were found to be partial mediators of the relationship between sign and symptom severity and depressive symptoms, considered individually and as a set.
Keywords: social support; stigma; depressive symptoms; social problem solving; HIV
Despite the use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) to delay the progression of HIV to AIDS, people living with HIV (PLWH) continue to experience varying degrees of sign and symptom severity. Empirical data indicate that PLWH report moderate-to-severe signs and symptoms (Merlin et al., 2011) from disease- and medication-related side effects (Cook, Sousa, Matthews, Meek, & Kwong, 2011; Feasey, Healey, & Gordon, 2011; Wantland et al., 2011). Several studies also suggest that PLWH are at high risk for depressive symptoms (Bhatia, Hartman, Kallen, Graham, & Giordano, 2011; Havlik, Brennan, & Karpiak, 2011; Hudson, Lee, & Portillo, 2003). Furthermore, HIV-related sign and symptom severity in PLWH may contribute to their high risk for depressive symptoms (Jong et al., 2010). Empirical findings also indicate that social support, stigma, and social problem solving are associated with these depressive symptoms in PLWH (Andrinopoulos et al., 2011; Chibanda et al., 2011; Smit et al., 2012).
This study uses a statistical approach known as mediation analyses to examine whether social support, stigma, and social problem solving alter the relationship between HIV-related sign and symptom severity and depressive symptoms in PLWH. It is important to remember that mediation analyses cannot substantiate causation. Identification of factors that influence depressive symptoms in PLWH is important in the development of effective interventions. Therefore, knowledge generated from this study may be useful in identifying components that are important for decreasing the risk of depressive symptoms in PLWH...