The Relationship between Perceived Social Support and Psychological Well-being among HIV/AIDS Patients

Abstract

HIV/AIDS poses multidimensional and devastating problems. Thus, current study sought to investigate the association between perceived social support and the psychological wellbeing among HIV patients atTesfaBerhan Charity Association.Correlational research design with quantitative method was carried out on 162 HIV/AIDS patients who were selected through stratified sampling technique. The stratification was based on gender. In order to collect the data, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and Ryff’s Psychological Well being Scale (SPWB) was employed. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum scores; and inferential statistics including Pearson Correlation Coefficient was also computed. Accordingly, the result of this study showed that the mean score of perceived social support 43.08 with the standard deviation of 17.85.  Moreover,  this study revealed that the mean score of overall psychological well-beingamong HIV patients was found to be 75.20 with the SD of 12.574, which was interpreted as low psychological well-being. Pearson correlation was found a strong positive relationship (r=.756) between total psychological well being and total perceived social support.Health workers, counselors and other professionals who work with HIV patients may consider further interventions to promote psychological well being in HIV/AIDS-positive individuals. More attention should be paid to the social environment of individuals diagnosed with HIV as the quality of social relationships may be particularly important for successful psychological adaptation to HIV/AIDS.