Why will research on psychological well-being help me and other patients?
If you are in the HIV positive group and you struggle with numerous somatic, psychological and social problems, psychological well-being is particularly important for you. Thanks to research it takes on a practical dimension.
Studies have shown a reduced level of well-being of HIV-infected people in comparison with both the general population and people suffering from other chronic diseases. It may be related to a greater probability of mental disorders in people living with HIV, but also to the course of HIV infection itself. Indeed, lower compliance with medical treatment increases the risk of developing AIDS.
Importantly, despite the identical medical diagnosis and after control of clinical indicators (e.g. CD4 lymphocyte count, viremia level, time since infection, treatment applied) major individual differences in psychological well-being are still found among people living with HIV.
At present, in our research using advanced and innovative methods we are looking for psychosocial factors, that is variables which underpin these differences.
Therefore, in our research, apart from traditional paper questionnaires that the participants complete in clinics and hospitals, we also use an electronic application. It is a very convenient and practical tool, which can be used efficiently and – if necessary – discreetly.
It is in the electronic application that the participants of the study describe day by day how they cope with stress, what their relations with others are like, and how they feel at the end of the day.
Also read
Love and HIV – Why Partner Support Matters So Much
For many people, HIV is still a taboo subject—associated with fear, stereotypes, and outdated knowledge. Although today HIV treatment is so effective that people living with HIV live just as long as those who are not infected, they continue to experience strong stigma—not only from others, but also within their own thoughts, emotions, and relationships.
Embodied Post-Traumatic Growth Among People Living with HIV
The vast majority of psychological research indicates that experiencing trauma mainly leads to negative changes in human psychological functioning, with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) being the most widespread. Nevertheless, relatively recently, scholars’ attention has shifted from focusing solely on the negative to paradoxically also considering the positive consequences of traumatic events, which has shaped a new line of research on post-traumatic growth (PTG).
40 years of AIDS: Did the social reception of HIV/AIDS change?
In June 2021, exactly 40 years had passed since the first cases of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection were officially detected and described in scientific literature. Do these changes translate into the independence of one's well-being from an HIV diagnosis? We tried to answer this question in our meta-analysis.
