Social Support and HIV-Related Stigma on Depression

Social support and HIV-related stigma on depression looks at the effect of social support and HIV-related stigma on depression in HIV patients. Data for the research which formed the basis of this book was collected from a selection of patients attending the antiretroviral clinic of a hospital in Eastern Nigeria. The effects of social support and HIV-related stigma on depression in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) were examined. The moderating effect of sociodemographic factors, Quality of Life (QOL), and time since HIV diagnosis on this relationship were also examined in the research. Regression analyses were used to examine the relationships between the variables. Some 24.5% of the study participants were depressed. Significant relationships identified included negative relationships between depression and social support, positive relationships between depression and negative self-image, and a combination of poor social support and HIV-related stigma having synergic effects in predicting depression. There were other findings which were discussed in details in the book. The implications of these findings for public health were discussed in this book.