The determinants of distress among HIV discordant couples

Abstract

AimA cross sectional study was conducted to examine the distress experienced by HIV infected discordant couples and their coping strategies. BackgroundHIV discordant couples are those couples where one partner is HIV infected and the other is not. When one of the spouses of an approved marriage is an infected person, the psychological distress of the uninfected partner is likely to be high due to social aversion towards the couple, anxiety about the possibility of getting the infection to self. Materials and methodsA total of 30 HIV discordant couples, receiving anti retro-viral therapy from a general hospital in Puducherry, were selected. Distress and coping were measured using Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and Brief Cope scale respectively. The descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. ResultsThe result reveals that most of the respondents were experiencing moderate level of distress. The substance use (β=−.615; p<.05); venting (β=−.425; p<.05); planning (β=−.614; p<.05) and faith in religion (β=−.353; p<.05) were the significant negative predictor variable that reduced depression among HIV discordant couples. The substance use (β=−.647; p<.01); planning (β=.−546; p<.01); positive reframing (β=−.365; p<.05) and religious belief (β=−.436; p<.05) significantly contributing variables to anxiety of HIV discordant. Finally, substance use (β=−.489; p<.01); humour (β=−.345; p<.05) and faith in religion (β=−.336; p<.05) were the significant negative predictors that reduced the stress level of the respondents. ConclusionThe study concludes that emphasizing the distress reduction and healthy coping promotion strategies for HIV discordant couples.