Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / This study utilised secondary data from a larger study that looked at individuals that are already infected by HIV which is entitled Implicative personal dilemmas and cognitive conflicts in health decision making in HIV positive adults and adults with AIDS. The primary aim of the larger study was to examine the cognitive construction of the individual and how they utilised their individual resources to construct who they are and how they perceived the difficulties and challenges that they face and the decisions they make regarding their health. HIV and AIDS is a debilitating disease and it affects millions worldwide. South Africa, presently, has the largest burden of this disease with those between the ages of 15 – 49 years of age being most affected. As previously mentioned the decisions that individuals make can impact on their health. Decisions to take necessary precautions such as protected sex during sexual intercourse can decrease the progression of the disease. Decisions made regarding abstinence of risky behaviour as well as being committed to taking medication could also positively impact health. People living with HIV and AIDS find it difficult to adjust to the challenges that this disease presents. Depression is often experienced due to the changes in self image and perception. Studies show that females are twice more likely to experience depression than men. There has however been no conclusive evidence showing the reason for this, however, the perception of stress based on gender could shed some light on this matter and how these perceptions can increase the likelihood of women being more vulnerable to depression. Due to the limitation of this study, it will only look at depression as it relates to HIV and AIDS. Psychological problems such as depression can hamper the adjustment process and the effect of depression is evident in that it can lower the CD 4 + cells. Not only are those living with HIV and AIDS affected by depression, but they also have a lifetime prevalence to depression. It is important to have an effective screening tool for depression so that the detection of this disease can be made and effective treatment can be implemented to enhance health. The sample consisted of 113 adult participants that have already been diagnosed with HIV and AIDS. The primary aim of this study was to compare the Beck’s Depression Inventory II (BDI II) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale –(the Depression component) (HADS-D) as a screening tool for depression. Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed a 5 factor structure which accounted for 60.14 % of the total variance. The HADS yielded one factor accounting for 14.33% of total variance. The BDI II has proven to be more a reliable measure of depression with 0.89 according to the Cronbach’s Alpha co efficient opposed to 0.375 as per the HADS-D. The secondary aim was to establish the sociodemographic and disease profiles of the participants under study. / South Africa
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uwc/oai:etd.uwc.ac.za:11394/2900 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Le Fleur, Celeste Catherine |
| Contributors | Naidoo, Pamela, Dept. of Psychology |
| Publisher | University of the Western Cape |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright: University of the Western Cape |
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