Research On The Relationship Between Discrimination Perception,Social Support,and Mental Health Among HIV Infected Individuals

AIDS,also known as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome(AIDS),is a chronic infectious disease caused by human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)(also known as HIV).AIDS is highly infectious.At present,the main route of transmission is sexual transmission,so the public has a strong negative stereotype of AIDS.When a patient is infected with HIV,there will be tremendous psychological pressure,which can make them feel discriminated against,exacerbate their anxiety and depression,create a sense of social isolation,affect their medical treatment,and ultimately affect their physical and mental health,and even lead to suicidal ideation and behavior.Currently,the daily perception of discrimination among HIV infected individuals has received global attention.This study aims to explore the relationship between discrimination perception,social support,and mental health status of HIV infected individuals,and further explore whether social support plays a mediating role between discrimination perception and mental health,in order to provide a basis for future strategies and measures for psychological and behavioral intervention in HIV infected individuals.HIV infected individuals who returned to the AIDS counseling and testing clinic of the S District Disease Control and Prevention Center in J City for treatment between June 1,2020 and December 30,2020 were used as consecutive enrollment samples.The social demography data questionnaire,the self-designed disease characteristics questionnaire,the self-designed HIV infected person notification questionnaire,the perceived social support scale,the Baker suicidal ideation scale in Chinese,the patient health questionnaire depression scale,the generalized anxiety scale,and the AIDS discrimination perception scale were used to investigate the research objects.Using a binary unconditional logistic regression analysis method,analyze the influencing factors of discrimination perception,anxiety,depression,and suicidal ideation among HIV infected individuals;After controlling other factors,we analyzed the relationship between HIV infected people’s discrimination perception,social support and mental health.On this basis,we used stepwise test and Bootstrap method to test the mesomeric effect of social support between discrimination perception and mental health.The research results show that:HIV infected individuals who are not employed(OR=2.02,95% CI: 1.20-3.40),have a monthly income of ≤ 4000 yuan(OR=1.51,95% CI: 1.19-1.91),have children(OR=1.97,95% CI: 1.49-2.61),have not informed others of their HIV infection results(OR=1.50,95% CI: 1.14-1.97),have been infected through same-sex male behavior(OR=1.67,95% CI: 1.32-2.12),and have a HIV positive diagnosis duration of ≤ 36months(OR=1.55,95% CI: 1.21-1.99),are more likely to have a higher level of discrimination perception.HIV infected individuals who are married(OR=1.41,95% CI: 1.06-1.86),not employed(OR=1.85,95% CI: 1.15-2.97),have a monthly income of ≤ 4000 yuan(OR=1.63,95% CI: 1.28-2.07),have not informed others of their HIV infection results(OR=1.40,95% CI: 1.07-1.83),have abnormal results from their last physical examination(OR=1.35,95% CI: 1.03-1.76),and have been infected through same-sex male behavior(OR=1.38,95% CI: 1.08-1.76),are more likely to experience anxiety.HIV infected individuals with a bachelor’s degree or less(OR=1.27,95% CI:1.01-1.60),non employed(OR=2.36,95% CI: 1.43-3.94),monthly income ≤ 4000 yuan(OR=1.60,95% CI: 1.26-2.03),and infection through male homosexual behavior(OR=1.51,95% CI: 1.19-1.90)are more likely to experience depression.Students(OR=1.55,95% CI: 1.00-2.41),non employed(OR=2.91,95% CI:1.60-5.28),monthly income ≤ 4000 yuan(OR=1.83,95% CI: 1.41-2.39),infected through male homosexual behavior(OR=4.45,95% CI: 3.46-5.72),and HIV positive diagnosis duration ≤ 36 months(OR=1.87,95% CI: 1.43-2.44)are more likely to have suicidal ideation.After controlling for other factors,discrimination perception was negatively correlated with social support(a OR=0.54;95% CI: 0.43-0.68;P<0.001);Discrimination perception was positively correlated with anxiety(a OR=4.63;95% CI: 3.60-5.97;P<0.001),depression(a OR=4.16;95% CI: 3.26-5.32;P<0.001),and suicidal ideation(a OR=5.66;95% CI: 4.33-7.42;P<0.001);The level of social support is negatively correlated with anxiety(a OR=0.60;95% CI: 0.47-0.76;P<0.001),depression(a OR=0.59;95% CI:0.47-0.75;P<0.001),and suicidal ideation(a OR=0.58;95% CI: 0.45-0.76;P<0.001).Social support played a partial mediating role between discrimination perception and anxiety,depression and suicidal ideation,and the mesomeric effect accounted for 8.6%,9.4% and 9.5% of the total effects,respectively.The final conclusion is that the HIV infected population experiences a higher level of discrimination perception,with most infected individuals experiencing anxiety,depression,and suicidal ideation.Discrimination perception is positively correlated with mental health,while social support is negatively correlated with mental health.Discrimination perception can directly affect the anxiety,depression,and suicidal ideation of HIV infected individuals,as well as indirectly affect anxiety,depression,and suicidal ideation through social support.The study believes that health education on HIV related knowledge should be strengthened,AIDS discrimination and discrimination perception of HIV infected people should be reduced,targeted mental health interventions should be carried out for HIV infected people,and social support level should be improved.To reduce the level of discrimination perception among the population,improve their psychological status,and improve their quality of life.