The Spiritual Distress of Adolescents "Men Sex Men"(MSM) Infected with HIV in Bandung

Abstract

The prevalence of cases of HIV infection in the group of adolescents “Men Sex Men (MSM) in Indonesia has continued to increase from 2015 to 2019. The problem of decreasing physical health, feeling depressed, social stigma, stress and inconsistent behavior with religious values will create prolonged distress that hinders the quality of life. The purpose of this study was to identify spiritual distress in adolescents infected with HIV with MSM. This study was conducted with a cross-sectional approach to 84 young people living with HIV/AIDS. The sample selection technique used snowball sampling with a Spiritual questionnaire. Data analysis was conducted by using frequency distribution and Lambda test processed using a computer system. The results showed that 56% were in a state of spirituality with no disturbance, 38.1% were in moderate spiritual distress, and 6% were severe spiritual distress. The SSI score mean of respondents was 16.3 ± SD 4.9. There was a correlation between the length of diagnosis and the incidence of spiritual distress with a p-value of 0.000 and a value of r = 0.459. Spiritual distress tended to occur a lot in the early days of being diagnosed with HIV. There was no correlation between age and the incidence of spiritual distress (p = 0.097). This study showed that spiritual care support for adolescents MSM would help overcome existential problems related to HIV.