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Predictors of Resilience and Posttraumatic Growth Among People Living with HIV: A Longitudinal Study

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Abstract

This longitudinal study investigated the predictors of HIV-related resilience (HR) and posttraumatic growth (PTG) among Spanish-speaking HIV-positive people. Perceived past resilience, internalised stigma, and coping strategies were hypothesised as possible predictors. Data were collected at two time points from 119 HIV-positive people. Path analyses with latent variables revealed that half of HR 8 months after diagnosis was predicted by rumination, emotional expression, positive thinking, internalised stigma, and perceived past resilience. The latter three, along with isolation, self-blame, thinking avoidance, and help seeking predicted some PTG dimensions 8 months after diagnosis. The results highlight the importance of internalised stigma associated with HIV infection and of the differential use of coping strategies, and point to the need for clinicians and policy makers to implement stigma reduction and appropriate coping strategies interventions.

Resumen

Este estudio longitudinal exploró los predictores de la resiliencia relacionada con el VIH (RV) y el crecimiento postraumático (CPT) en personas hispanoparlantes VIH-positivas. Los posibles predictores incluyeron la resiliencia pasada percibida, el estigma internalizado y diferentes estrategias de afrontamiento. Hubo 119 participantes en las dos evaluaciones del estudio. Los análisis de rutas con variables latentes mostraron que la mitad de la RV ocho meses después del diagnóstico fue predicha por rumiación, expresión emocional, pensar en positivo, estigma internalizado y resiliencia pasada percibida. Las tres últimas, junto con aislamiento, auto-culpabilización, evitar pensar y buscar ayuda predijeron algunas dimensiones de CPT ocho meses tras el diagnóstico. Estos resultados subrayan la importancia del estigma internalizado asociado al diagnóstico de VIH y del uso diferencial de las estrategias de afrontamiento como predictores de RV y CPT, y señalan la necesidad de que tanto clínicos como responsables políticos implementen intervenciones destinadas a la reducción del estigma y el uso de estrategias de afrontamiento.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the HIV associations in Spain and Latin America and the Health Care Providers at Centro Sandoval, in Madrid, whose help was fundamental for the data collection. The first author would like to acknowledge the financial support given by the Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte through a FPU fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological and Health Psychology, School of Psychology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Calle Ivan Pavlov, 6, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Helena Garrido-Hernansaiz & Jesús Alonso-Tapia

  2. School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Patrick J. Murphy

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  1. Helena Garrido-Hernansaiz
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  3. Jesús Alonso-Tapia
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Correspondence to Helena Garrido-Hernansaiz.

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All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research ethics committees and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Garrido-Hernansaiz, H., Murphy, P.J. & Alonso-Tapia, J. Predictors of Resilience and Posttraumatic Growth Among People Living with HIV: A Longitudinal Study. AIDS Behav 21, 3260–3270 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1870-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1870-y

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