Behaviour Modification for Stigma Reduction and Psychological Functioning Among People Living With HIV/AIDS

Matthew O Olasupo,Mantwa Welhemina Modiba ,Erhabor Sunday Idemudia

doi:10.5539/gjhs.v11n11p129

Matthew O Olasupo, Mantwa Welhemina Modiba + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v11n11p129

Copy DOI

Abstract

HIV/AIDS stigma is still pervasive and continues to negatively impact the psychological functioning of PLWHA in South African communities. The aim of this study was to design, implement, and to empirically evaluate the efficacy of an HIV/AIDS stigma reduction intervention. Adopting a two-phase study approach, the study was anchored on a cross-sectional design for phase I, and a pre-test post-test control group design for phase II. Phase I study was a baseline assessment of HIV and AIDS stigma experiences as well as psychological functioning among PLWHA, while phase II focused on empirically tailoring an HIV/AIDS stigma reduction intervention - the Stigma Coping Skills Intervention (SCSI). The HIV/AIDS stigma scale was used to determine HIV/AIDS stigma, while the GHQ-28 was used to determine psychological functioning. The sample comprised of 300 PLWHA. Purposive sampling method was employed for phase I study. Phase II study comprised a total of 24 participants equally assigned to experimental and control groups. Simple random sampling method was used for the phase II study.&nbsp; Findings indicated that the intervention was significant on stigma, and was also significant on psychological functioning. The SCSI demonstrated efficacy in HIV and AIDS stigma reduction, as well as improving psychological functioning.

Highlights

HIV/AIDS stigma is widespread, experienced in almost every country and region of the world (Senyalo, Maja, & Ramukumba, 2015; Yu, Zhang, & Chan, 2016)
24 PLWHA who were high on stigma and psychological dysfunctions were randomly selected for the phase II study
The Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was run to determine the effect of the Stigma Coping Skills Intervention (SCSI) on HIV/AIDS stigma

Summary

Introduction

HIV/AIDS stigma is widespread, experienced in almost every country and region of the world (Senyalo, Maja, & Ramukumba, 2015; Yu, Zhang, & Chan, 2016). The efforts to fight the spread of the pandemic are stalled by persistent stigma (Brent, 2016) and its harmful psychological effects on those living with the virus (Niu, Luo, Liu, Silenzio, & Xiao, 2016). The prevalence of psychological dysfunctions in PLWHA is pervasive (Brandt, Zvolensky, Woods, Gonzalez, Safren, & O’Cleirigh, 2017; Chambers, Rueda, Baker, Wilson, Deutsch, Raeifar et al, 2015) and highly associated with HIV and AIDS stigma (Yi, Chhoun, Suong, Thin, Brody, & Tuot, 2015; Yu et al, 2016). Research indicates that when HIV and AIDS stigma persists, the hostile living environment erodes PLWHA’s coping mechanisms over time, resulting in reduced capacity for coping with new stressors precipitating even poorer psychological functioning (Bogart, Wagner, Galvan, Landrine, & Klein, 2011). Stigma and psychological dysfunctions remain major problems for PLWHA

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion