Abstract
This study investigated the level of posttraumatic growth (PTG) and its association with the level of social support, stress coping strategies and resilience among a people living with HIV (PLWH) in a 1 year longitudinal study. We also controlled for age, HIV infection duration and the presence of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). From the 290 participants, initially eligible for the study, 110 patients were recruited for the first assessment and 73 patients participated in a follow-up assessment. Participants filled out following psychometric tools: the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), the Berlin Social Support Scales (BSSS), the Mini-COPE Inventory, the Resiliency Assessment Scale (SPP-25) and the PTSD-F questionnaire. Received support and resilience were positively, whereas return to religion as coping strategy was negatively related to the PTG. Clinicians and researchers need to focus on potentially positive consequences of HIV infection, i.e. PTG, and factors that might promote it among PLWH.
Highlights
This study investigated the level of posttraumatic growth (PTG) and its association with the level of social support, stress coping strategies and resilience among a people living with HIV (PLWH) in a 1 year longitudinal study
Clinicians and researchers need to focus on potentially positive consequences of HIV infection, i.e. PTG, and factors that might promote it among PLWH
We focused on posttraumatic growth’s definition by Tedeschi and Callhoun (1996, 2004), according to which PTG is defined as the set of positive changes in relations with others, self-perception and existential beliefs, in the form of greater appreciation of life and openness to spirituality, which can result from attempts at dealing with a traumatic or highly stressful life event
Summary
Posttraumatic growth and HIV decades of research have found negative consequences of HIV/AIDS (e.g. Israelski et al, 2007; King, 1993; Leserman, 2008; Safren et al, 2003; Rzeszutek et al, 2012, 2015), other studies have highlighted the positive consequences of HIV infection, i.e. the occurrence of posttraumatic growth (PTG) (e.g. Milam, 2004, 2006; Murphy & Hevey, 2013; Sherr et al, 2011). We focused on posttraumatic growth’s definition by Tedeschi and Callhoun (1996, 2004), according to which PTG is defined as the set of positive changes in relations with others, self-perception and existential beliefs, in the form of greater appreciation of life and openness to spirituality, which can result from attempts at dealing with a traumatic or highly stressful life event. People after these kinds of adverse life events may establish more satisfying relations with other people, start to recognize their strength in achieving new life goals and change their basic life values, which manifests by a shattering of their prior worldview.
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