Mental Health, Social Connectedness, and Fear During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Perspective from Older Women with HIV

Older women with HIV (WWH) confront significant biopsychosocial challenges that may be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Between May 2020 and April 2021, following a resiliency intervention conducted as part of a randomized parent trial, 24 cisgender WWH ( M  = 58 years old) completed quantitati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:AIDS and behavior 2023-07, Vol.27 (7), p.2176-2189
Main Authors: Stanton, Amelia M., Goodman, Georgia R., Blyler, Abigail, Kirakosian, Norik, Labbe, Allison K., Robbins, Gregory K., Park, Elyse R., Psaros, Christina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Cisgender
Comorbidity
Coping strategies
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 - epidemiology
Fear
Female
Health Psychology
HIV
HIV Infections - epidemiology
Human immunodeficiency virus
Humans
Infectious Diseases
Latin American cultural groups
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Mental disorders
Mental Health
Middle Aged
Older people
Original Paper
Pandemics
Public Health
Qualitative analysis
Resilience
Stress
Well being
Women
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Summary:Older women with HIV (WWH) confront significant biopsychosocial challenges that may be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Between May 2020 and April 2021, following a resiliency intervention conducted as part of a randomized parent trial, 24 cisgender WWH ( M  = 58 years old) completed quantitative assessments and qualitative interviews exploring the impact of COVID-19 on mental health. Qualitative data were analyzed via rapid analysis. Most participants were Black (62.5%) and non-Hispanic or Latina (87.5%). Emergent themes included (1) increased anxiety and depression; (2) a loss of social connectedness; (3) fear of unknown interactions among COVID-19, HIV, and other comorbidities; and (4) the use of largely adaptive strategies to cope with these issues. Findings suggest that older WWH face significant COVID-19-related mental health challenges, compounding existing stressors. As the pandemic persists, it will be important to assess the impact of these stressors on wellbeing, identify effective coping strategies, and provide increased support to mitigate COVID-19-related mental health issues over time. Trial Registration : ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03071887.
ISSN:1090-7165
1573-3254
1573-3254
DOI:10.1007/s10461-022-03950-9