Examination of a stress process model in people living with AIDS/HIV

This survey research examined a stress process model (A-B-C) in People Living With AIDS and/or HIV (PLWAs) with point "A" representing stressful life events, point "B" the PLWAs' psychological make-up, and point "C" the emotional consequences. Point "A" was assessed by the HIV-stressor scale which yielded two results: (1) number of stressors experienced, and (2) the PLWAs' perception of how stressful each event was for them. Point "B" was assessed by measuring two constructs: (1) Sense of Coherence (SOC) which measured the PLWAs' ability to find meaning in their illness, and (2) Perceived Health Competence (PHC) which measured the PLWAs' perception that they have control over their health situation. Depression was measured at point "C." In addition to these factors, length of time since diagnosis of HIV and stage of HIV-infection was examined. In terms of findings, this research demonstrated the following: SOC is significantly related to depression and to perception of stressor severity; PHC was only significantly related to depression; perception of stressor severity and number of stressor(s) was not significantly related to level of depression; PHC was not significantly related to perception of stressor severity; time since diagnosis was not significantly related to SOC; stage of illness was not significantly related to PHC.

Department dc:contributor.department

College of William & Mary - School of Education

Year dc:date.issued

1999

Author dc:creator

• Sawyer, Bret Morgan

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Foster, Victoria

Statement dc:rights

• © The Author

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25774/w4-gm56-fx30

OAI record oai:identifier

https://scholarworks.wm.edu/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Ascholarworks.wm.edu%3Ainternal%2F5068