A Brief Affirmation Intervention on HIV-related Distress and Positive Living in Lesotho

Counseling Clinical Trial

Official title: Effects of a Brief Affirmation Intervention on HIV-related Distress and Positive Living Intentions Among Individuals Recently Diagnosed With HIV in Lesotho

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

This study is interested in the stress associated with being HIV positive and looking at ways to reduce that stress. Individuals who are HIV positive face a number of nontrivial threats and stressors: the burden of illness, loss of work, stigmatization, and the chance of death. The study investigates the use of self-affirmation to reduce some of these threats and stressors. Self-affirmation may helping people to cope with these threats and stressors by reminding individuals of other valued aspects of themselves, thus reducing the impact, both psychologically and physiologically, of these threats. Experimentally induced affirmations in which individuals are asked to write about values that are important to the self have been shown to reduce physiological stress among healthy student populations (Sherman, Bunyan, Creswell, & Jaremka, 2009).

This research will be conducted in collaboration with the global health organizations, PSI who is already providing counseling to those living with HIV on how to reduce the spread of HIV and how to live a healthy life with HIV. These counseling sessions take place at local clinics and hospitals while individuals are waiting to be seen for treatment and are completely voluntary.

Clinical Trial Description

n/a

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Counseling
• Self-affirmation Plus Positive Living Counseling

• NCT number: NCT03762187
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: University of California, Santa Barbara
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: September 1, 2014
• Completion date: January 31, 2015