The effect of perceived and actual social support on the mental health of HIV-positive persons

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to compare the ways in which perceived and actual social support affect the mental health of gay men, straight or bisexual men, and women living with HIV/AIDS. Participants included 125 women and 232 men with an HIV-positive or AIDS diagnosis involved in three larger investigations of HIV, disclosure and mental health. Results suggest each sub-group experienced perceived social support as significantly predictive of better mental health while the effect of actual social support was minimal.

HIV-Disclosure, Social Support, and Depression Among HIV-Infected African American Women Living in the Rural Southeastern United States

“…As expected, social support variables were found to be significantly and inversely associated with depression. Higher social support, whether perceived or actual, and greater satisfaction with the support available can minimize the effects of psychological stress associated with being HIV-positive (Catz, Gore-Felton, & McClure, 2002;Kalichman et al, 2003;McDowell & Serovich, 2007) and thus may result in better adaption and lesser depression. In our sample, the average duration of HIV diagnosis was about 7 years in which majority of the participants had disclosed their condition to at least some of the persons in their social network.…”

“…There is a well-documented inverse relationship between social support and depression among HIV-infected populations (Kalichman, DiMarco, Austin, Luke, & DiFonzo, 2003;McDowell & Serovich, 2007). Some studies have suggested that perceived social support is more important than actual support (Serovich, Kimberly, Mosack, & Lewis, 2001) and that women rely more on social support compared with men in similar situations (Hurdle, 2001).…”

A grounded theory of how social support influences physical activity in adolescent girls

“…For example, a person may believe they are supporting a child to be active but if this is not perceived by the child then the influence on PA behaviour may vary. Within the wider literature, perceived social support has been found to be more predictive of positive health outcomes (e.g., Holt-Lunstad, Smith, & Layton, 2010; McDowell & Serovich, 2007; Uchino, Bowen, Carlisle, & Birmingham, 2012), although no evidence of differential effects between perceived versus received support were identified for social support on girls’ PA behaviour (Laird, Fawkner, Kelly, McNamee, & Niven, 2016). …”

Efeito do suporte social na vida de adultos com HIV/AIDS Effect of social support in the lives of adults with HIV/AIDS

“…The characterization of the 33 articles showed that the year of publication ranged 1994-2013, being published in 15 European countries, [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] in the United States, 1,24-37 two in Brazil [38][39] and one in Argentina. 40 As the evidence levels, 8 there was the following distribution: an article level II, 31 an article level IV 11 articles level VI.…”