Emotional Bonds and Social Support Exchange Between Men Living With HIV Infection and Their Mothers

Abstract

Men infected with HIV are often faced with caregiving responsibilities of aging, ill parents, while simultaneously looking for support from their parents in dealing with their own health problems. Unfortunately, the reciprocal roles of HIVpositive adult sons and aging mothers as caregivers have not been examined. To address this gap in the literature, HIV-positive men (n = 118) answered open-ended questions about the support they exchanged with their mothers, completed the Depth of Relationships Inventory, and rated the importance of health-related assistance between themselves and their mothers. The men viewed themselves as important providers of both instrumental and emotional support to their mothers. Men perceived their mothers to be significant providers of emotional support but only moderately important in providing instrumental support. About a third of the men responded that the help they provided and received from the mothers in managing each other's health and staying healthy was extremely important. Men regarded their relationships with their mothers as one of their most important social relationships. Non-White men rated the quality of their mother-son relationships more highly, exchanged more instrumental support, and provided more emotional support to their mothers than White men. Men who disclosed their HIV-positive status to their mothers rated the importance of the help they received from their mothers in managing their illnesses higher than men who had not disclosed.

Families Living with Blood-Borne Viruses: The Case for Extending the Concept of “Serodiscordance”

“…Clearly, not only do families play a key role in providing support to people with blood-borne viruses, but they themselves “live with” the virus in their own right. Uphold and colleagues describe families and loved ones as “emotionally coinfected” [ 108 , page: 97]. The direct and indirect impact on children, spouses, parents, and kin networks “extends far beyond individual illness,” influencing the family structure, roles and responsibilities, emotional well-being, social support, and economic resources [ 12 , page: 980].…”

Life Problems and Perceptions of Giving Support: Implications for Aging Mothers and Middle-Aged Children

“…Support exchanges in the context of life problems constitute an important component that builds and sustains relational closeness between mothers and their sons (Morman & Whitely, 2012). Problems experienced by young men such as criminal activity, legal disputes (Veen et al, 2011), and chronic health conditions (Uphold, Shehan, Bender, & Bender, 2012) have implications for support exchanged within the mother-son relationship. This research is limited by its emphasis on earlier parts of the lifespan (e.g., when sons are in adolescence and young adulthood), and how aging mothers perceive giving support to middle-aged sons with life problems.…”

The illness experience for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A qualitative study

“…In this study, family support for patients helped them face reality and actively seek the meaning of life, and the patients provided physiological and psychological support to their families to alleviate their sense of guilt and the family burden. Studies on family caregiving in other life‐limiting illnesses (e.g., HIV and multiple sclerosis) indicated similar family relationships (Payne & McPherson, 2010; Uphold et al, 2012). Notably, the family self‐help model was reported in all participants’ families, which might arise due to the inadequacy of the Chinese Medical Insurance System and limited existing medical facilities for the rare disease.…”