Mediating and moderating relations between social and individual resources on psychological adjustment of women living with HIV /AIDS
Item
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Title
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Mediating and moderating relations between social and individual resources on psychological adjustment of women living with HIV /AIDS
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Identifier
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d_2009_2013:1b4fe7eca284:10012
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identifier
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10026
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Creator
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Schrimshaw, Eric Wade,
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Contributor
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Margaret Rosario
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Date
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2009
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Social psychology | Personality psychology | Public health | control | coping | HIV | psychological adjustment | self-esteem | social support
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Abstract
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Given the growing number of women living with HIV/AIDS and the prevalence psychological distress they experience, this research examined the social and individual resources that promote psychological adjustment (lower depression and anxiety, greater positive affect) among women living with HIV/AIDS. A vast literature has documented the positive association of social resources (i.e., social support) and individual resources (i.e., self-esteem, perceived control, coping strategies) on psychological adjustment. However, the majority of this research has failed to look beyond a main effects model or a stress-buffering model to examine the potential relations between social and individual resources on psychological adjustment. This dissertation conducted a secondary data analysis of an ethnically diverse sample of 146 women living with HIV/AIDS to examine three theoretical relations between social and individual resources on psychological adjustment: (1) Support-Mediation Hypothesis: the effects of social resources on psychological adjustment are mediated by individual resources; (2) Individual Resource-Mediation Hypothesis: the effects of individual resources on psychological adjustment are mediated by social resources; (3) Support-Moderation Hypothesis: the effects of social resources on psychological adjustment are moderated by individual resources. The individual resource-mediation hypothesis was not supported. Similarly, limited evidence was found for the support-mediation hypothesis. Although neither control perceptions nor coping were found to mediate the associations between social resources and psychological adjustment, self-esteem was found to mediate the effects of social support on depressive symptoms. The strongest evidence was found for the support-moderation hypothesis. Specifically, perceiving health as uncontrollable and perceiving health as due to chance were found to moderate the associations between social conflict and depressive symptoms. Distancing/avoidant coping was found to moderate the associations of social support and social conflict on positive affect, and support seeking coping was found to moderate the association of social support on positive affect. Levels of illness-related stress did not alter the pattern of associations. These findings provide evidence that social and individual resources interact to promote psychological adjustment among HIV-positive women. Further, the complex patterns of these interactions, suggests that future theoretical and empirical work must seek to integrate social and individual resources in order to understand their role in psychological adjustment.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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2009_2013.csv
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
