141st APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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286775
Resilience in women with HIV: Relationships with childhood sexual abuse, depression, and health-related quality of life


Monday, November 4, 2013

Sannisha K. Dale, PhD, EdM, Department of Psychology, Boston University, Boston, MA
Mardge H. Cohen, MD, Departments of Medicine/CORE Center at John H. Stroger Jr Hospital of Cook County, Cook County Health & Hospital System, Chicago, IL
Kathleen Weber, RN, Departments of Medicine/CORE Center at John H. Stroger Jr Hospital of Cook County, Cook County Health & Hospital System, Chicago, IL
Ruth C. Cruise, MA, Department of Psychology, Boston University, Boston, MA
Gwendolyn Kelso, MA, Department of Psychology, Boston University, Boston, MA
Yudelki M. Firpo, BA, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston,, MA
Leslie Brody, PhD, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA
Background: Resilience (ability to function adaptively following adversity), childhood sexual abuse (CSA), depression and health-related quality of life (QOL) were investigated among HIV+ and HIV- women.

Method: Of 202 women (138 HIV+ and 64 HIV-) from the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) Chicago CORE site, 87% were African American, mean age was 45.23, and median income was $6001-12,000. Measures included CSA (self-report of sexual abuse prior to age 18, yes/no), and continuous scores for resilience (10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale), depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale), and Quality of Life (QOL) (adapted Medical Outcome Study-HIV Short Form).

Results: CSA was reported by 27% of the sample. HIV+ and HIV- women did not differ in CSA, depression or resilience. HIV- women had higher QOL than HIV+ women. Multiple regressions controlling for education, employment, and HIV status indicated that higher resilience significantly related to lower depression (β = -.48, t = -7.74, p = .001) and higher QOL (β = .25, t = 3.38, p = .001). Depression also mediated (74% of total direct effect) the relationship between resilience and QOL. CSA significantly related to higher depression only for women scoring low in resilience (β = .26, t = 2.50, p = .01). The significance of relationships among variables did not differ based on HIV status.

Conclusion/Implications: Understanding the factors contributing to resilience among women with HIV exposed to CSA might help in the design of needed effective interventions to minimize the untoward consequences of CSA (depression, poor QOL).

Learning Areas:

Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe the relationships between resilience, childhood sexual abuse, depression and health-related quality of life in a sample of HIV+ and HIV- women.

Keyword(s): Women and HIV/AIDS, Mental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the recipient of a National Research Service Award (NRSA) from the National Institute of Mental Health for which the present data was collected. In addition, I have been involved in research on women with HIV for the past 5 years.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3300.0: Sex, violence, and HIV