Study of Gender Difference on Ways of Coping, Mental Health and Rumination in People Living with HIV Positive Jaiswal Chetna1,*, Dr. Kumar Narsingh2, Prof. Kulshrestha Usha3, Gupta Shivangi4 1Assistant Professor, Department of Psychological Sciences, Central University of South Bihar, Gaya 2Assistant Professor, Department of Psychological Sciences, Central University of South Bihar, Gaya, narsingh@cub.ac.in 3University of Rajasthan, Jaipur 4Guwahati, Assam, shivangi18@iitg.ac.in *Corresponding Author Email: chetna@cusb.ac.in
Online published on 25 July, 2019. Abstract Background Despite the promising developments in medical science in recent years, the global HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to grow. It has gained prominence in India as a growing public health issue. India has the third largest HIV epidemic in the world. In 2017, HIV prevalence among adults (aged 15–49) was estimated 0.2% (UNAIDS 2017). Overall this highly heterogenic population is slowing down and concentrated among key affected population. However the vulnerabilities that drive the epidemic vary due to its strong ties with gender inequalities. Social response towards people living with HIV+ (PLWH) is accompanied with denial, stigma and discrimination which is relatively seen more in women (Brown et al., 2003, Hollen, 2010, Vlassoff et al., 2012). The available research evidences indicate that gender based disparities adversely affect the psychosocial correlates such as ways of coping, mental health and rumination in PLWH. Aim To assess the gender difference between HIV+ males and females on their ways of coping, mental health, and rumination. Method To carry out the research, purposive sampling was employed on 100 HIV+ patients including 50 males and 50 females. Results The significant gender difference was found between HIV+ males and females on their ways of coping, mental health and rumination. Result indicated in comparison to their counterpart males were found to be associated more towards problem focused coping and positive mental health. On the other hand females scored higher on rumination whereas flow was found to be higher in males. Conclusion The role of gender disparities was found to have a significant impact on ways of coping, mental health and rumination in HIV+ males and females. Top Keywords Gender and HIV+, Ways of coping, Mental health, Rumination. Top |