Stigma and coping in peruvians adults with HIV

• Autores: Horna Gomez, Maria Jose, Zamora Ticse, Maritza Nicole, Espinoza-Quiroz, John Omar
• Formato: artículo
• Fecha de Publicación: 2025
• Institución: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
• Repositorio: Revistas - Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
• Lenguaje: español
• OAI Identifier: oai:revistasinvestigacion.unmsm.edu.pe:article/30076
• Enlace del recurso: https://revistasinvestigacion.unmsm.edu.pe/index.php/psico/article/view/30076
• Nivel de acceso: acceso abierto
• Materia: stigma; coping strategies; HIV/AIDS; correlational study; estigma; estrategias de afrontamiento; VIH/SIDA; estudio correlacional

The study explored the relationship between perceived stigma and coping strategies used in adults with HIV/AIDS. This was a cross-sectional correlational project. A total of 350 patients from a public hospital in Lima of different genders (M: 254, F: 92, NB: 4) aged between 18 and 55 years (M: 37, SD= 10.86), and, with treatment times between 6 months and 30 years, voluntarily participated. A sociodemographic form, the HIV Stigma Scale to explore stigma and the COPE questionnaire to measure coping were applied. Heterosexual sexual orientation was the majority of the cases (54 %), more than 30 % considered themselves as the main social support and 37.4% had university education. Stigma was high (28.6 %) to moderate (71.4 %), 50 % of the cases were concerned about their diagnosis being revealed, and the most used coping strategy was problem-focused (65.1 %). A negative and highly significant relationship was found between variables (r=.205, p<.001), with a small effect size. In particular, the emotion-focused strategy, which is the most widely used, has a small effect on stigma (r=.160). It is concluded that the strength of the relationship between variables is low, so it is necessary to consider complementary variables such as social support, resilience, or self-efficacy. In addition, it is essential to implement psychoeducational and awareness-raising interventions aimed at the Peruvian population to prevent discriminatory acts based on this health condition, regardless of sex, gender, or sexual orientation.