The Psychology of AIDS Denialism

Since the emergence of the recent Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) and its spread as a pandemic, there has been a parallel spread of false and misleading information, known as an infodemic. The COVID-19 infodemic has induced distrust in scientific communities, governments, institutions and the population, and a confidence crisis that has led to harmful health behaviours, also impacting on mental health. The aim of this study is to provide a scoping review of the scientific literature about COVID-19-related misinformation and conspiracy theories, focusing on the construction of a conceptual framework which is useful for the interpretation of the conspiracy theory phenomenon surrounding COVID-19, and its consequences. Particular socio-environmental conditions (i.e., low educational level, younger age), psychological processes and attitudes (such as low levels of epistemic trust, the avoidance of uncertainty, extraversion, collective narcissism, and a conspiracy-prone mindset), and contextual factors (e.g., high levels of self-perceived risk and anxiety) seem to underpin the adherence to beliefs that are not solely the domain of paranoids and extremists but a widespread phenomenon that has caused important health, social and political consequences.

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“…In turn, thousands of mothers were denied access to antiretroviral therapies. This has costed more than 300,000 lives [51].…”

Section: Epistemic Mistrust's Implications: Vaccine Hesitancy Stigma and Risk-taking Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 99%

Irrational Beliefs about COVID-19: A Scoping Review

Magarini

Pinelli

Sinisi

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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“…It has been argued that BCT is fundamentally rooted in ignorance or "denialism" (Kalichman, 2014). For example, Sunstein and Vermeule (2009, p. 211) claimed that people who come to believe in conspiracy theories suffer from "crippled epistemologies" whereby they "know very few things, and what they know is wrong."…”

Section: Component 2: Misinformation Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mistrust and misinformation: A two-component, socio-epistemic model of belief in conspiracy theories

Pierre

2020

J. Soc. Polit. Psych.

103

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Although conspiracy theories are endorsed by about half the population and occasionally turn out to be true, they are more typically false beliefs that, by definition, have a paranoid theme. Consequently, psychological research to date has focused on determining whether there are traits that account for belief in conspiracy theories (BCT) within a deficit model. Alternatively, a two-component, socio-epistemic model of BCT is proposed that seeks to account for the ubiquity of conspiracy theories, their variance along a continuum, and the inconsistency of research findings likening them to psychopathology. Within this model, epistemic mistrust is the core component underlying conspiracist ideation that manifests as the rejection of authoritative information, focuses the specificity of conspiracy theory beliefs, and can sometimes be understood as a sociocultural response to breaches of trust, inequities of power, and existing racial prejudices. Once voices of authority are negated due to mistrust, the resulting epistemic vacuum can send individuals “down the rabbit hole” looking for answers where they are vulnerable to the biased processing of information and misinformation within an increasingly “post-truth” world. The two-component, socio-epistemic model of BCT argues for mitigation strategies that address both mistrust and misinformation processing, with interventions for individuals, institutions of authority, and society as a whole.

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“…Diarrhea related morbidity and mortality among HIV/AIDS patients are still a clinical challenge to both clinicians and affected individuals [ 1 , 2 ]. This challenge emanates from the non-specificity of the etiological agents of chronic diarrhea in HIV/AIDs infection [ 3 ]. Chronic diarrhea caused by opportunistic enteric pathogens is increasingly observed in HIV/AIDS patients with depleted CD4 + T lymphocytes cells in Ghana [ 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-Behavioral Risk Factors Associated with Cryptosporidiosis in HIV/AIDS Patients Visiting the HIV Referral Clinic at Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Ghana

Opoku

Boampong

Ayi

et al. 2018

TOAIDJ

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Objective:To identify the socio-behavioral risk factors associated with cryptosporidiosis among HIV/AIDS patients with chronic diarrhea symptoms visiting the HIV referral clinic at Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Ghana.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted among 50 HIV/AIDS patients with recurrent diarrhea. Questionnaires were administered to collect social and behavioral risk factors associated with Cryptosporidium and other opportunistic protozoan parasitic infections in HIV patients. Stool samples were collected for the diagnosis of enteric protozoan pathogens using modified Ziehl-Neelsen and acid-fast staining methods. CD4+ cells counts of study subjects were obtained from patients clinical records. The data obtained were analyzed using Pearson chi-square and multivariate-adjusted statistics tool on SPSS 16 for Windows.Results:Twenty-seven (54%) of the subjects were infected with enteric protozoan pathogens. The prevalences of Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora and Microsporidium infections were 46%, 32% and 16%, respectively. Cryptosporidium infection was significantly associated with drinking water (×2=13.528, p<0.001), Cyclospora was associated with the type of drinking water (×2=14.931, p<0.001) and toilet facilities used by the study subjects (×2=12.463, p<0.01), whiles Microsporidium infection was associated with hand washing behavior (×2=12.463, p<0.01). Enteric protozoans were frequently encountered among subjects with CD4+ T-cell count <200 cells/mm3. However, coinfection of Cyclospora spp & Cryptosporidium spp was not observed in CD4+ cell count <200 and >500 cells/mm3. Multivariate analysis showed that the risk factor for Cryptosporidium infection among HIV/AIDS patients was the source of drinking water (pipe borne water 76.2% prevalence: sachet water 25%; OR=0.10, 95%CI: 0.03-0.39, p<0.001).Conclusion:We report the risk factor for exposure of Cryptosporidium infection among HIV/AIDS patients for the first time in Ghana. The contamination of drinking water by protozoan parasites should be a public health concern. These results provide the stepping block to understand the transmission dynamics of Cryptosporidium and other opportunistic pathogens in HIV/AIDS infected patients in Ghana.

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The Psychology of AIDS Denialism

Cited by 24 publications

References 47 publications

Irrational Beliefs about COVID-19: A Scoping Review

Irrational Beliefs about COVID-19: A Scoping Review

Mistrust and misinformation: A two-component, socio-epistemic model of belief in conspiracy theories

Socio-Behavioral Risk Factors Associated with Cryptosporidiosis in HIV/AIDS Patients Visiting the HIV Referral Clinic at Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Ghana

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