Impact of anxiety and depressive symptoms on perceptions of stigma in persons living with HIV disease in rural versus urban North Carolina Academic Article uri icon

Abstract

  • Despite the apparent effects of HIV-related stigma on psychological health, there has been limited research that compares associations between stigma, anxiety, and depression in persons living with HIV disease in urban versus rural settings of the South. This sub-analysis examined the relationships between HIV-related stigma, depression, and anxiety in a sample of 100 rural and 100 urban persons living with HIV disease in North Carolina. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to determine the predictive ability of anxiety and depression to HIV-related stigma for rural and urban participants. Both urban and rural groups reported experiencing high levels of HIV-related stigma. In the hierarchical regression, the following variables were associated with HIV-stigma, while controlling for demographic and well-recognized correlates of stigma. When examined in a hierarchical regression analysis, depressive symptoms contributed to the explained variance in stigma scores over and above other correlates of stigma including age, gender, income, ethnicity, and levels of social support. When anxiety scores and location were entered into the analysis, the equation remained non-significant. Future research is needed to understand how the added stigma associated with mental health disorders may influence HIV-related stigma. Clinical implications are discussed

Publication Date

  • 2015-12-01