Peer-reviewed article
The impact of discomfort with HIV status and hopelessness on depressive symptoms among adolescents living with HIV in Uganda
Patricia A. Cavazos‐Rehg, Christine Xu, Jacob T. Borodovsky, Erin M. Kasson, William Byansi et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how discomfort with HIV status relates to depression in 702 adolescents living with HIV in Uganda. Out-of-school adolescents had significantly higher depression scores than in-school peers. The research found that discomfort with HIV status was associated with higher depression, especially among out-of-school adolescents, and this relationship appeared to be influenced by hopelessness about the future. The findings suggest that emotional responses to living with HIV are important factors to address when treating depression in this population.
Key points
- Out-of-school adolescents with HIV had depression scores of 6.24 compared to 5.03 for in-school adolescents (p < 0.001)
- Discomfort with HIV status was associated with higher depression in both groups, but the effect was stronger for out-of-school adolescents (B = 0.49) than in-school adolescents (B = 0.10)
- Hopelessness about the future may mediate the relationship between discomfort with HIV status and depression
- School enrollment status appears to be an important moderator of depression risk among adolescents living with HIV
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional baseline analysis, so causal relationships cannot be established and the direction of effects remains unclear. The study does not provide information about the effectiveness of interventions to address these psychological factors.
Abstract
Introduction: Discomfort with and reluctance to disclose HIV status can lead to depression, social isolation, and poor medication adherence; we examined relationships among these variables within a sample of adolescents living with HIV in Uganda. Methods: We used baseline data from the Suubi + Adherence study, which recruited a total of 702 adolescents (ages 10–16 years) living with HIV in southwestern Uganda. Structural equation models were conducted separately among in-school adolescents and out-of-school adolescents to assess associations between discomfort level with HIV status and depressive symptoms and if this association was mediated by hopelessness. Results: Out-of-school adolescents had significantly higher depression scores compared with those in-school youth (M = 6.24 vs. M = 5.03, p < 0.001). Although high discomfort level with HIV status was significantly associated with higher depression scores among both in-school adolescents and out-of-school adolescents, this association among out-of-school adolescents (B = 0.49, 95%CI: 0.19, 0.79), was more substantial than for in-school adolescents (B = 0.10, 95%CI: 0.03, 0.17). Discussion: One’s discomfort with their HIV status and the extent to which they are hopeful about the future can contribute to the development of depressive symptoms and these factors need to be considered in the development of assessments and interventions for the treatment of depression among adolescents living with HIV.