Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Mar-May;49(2-3):119-43.
doi: 10.1080/03630240902915036.

Spiritual well-being, depressive symptoms, and immune status among women living with HIV/AIDS

Safiya George Dalmida  1 , Marcia McDonnell Holstad, Colleen Diiorio, Gary Laderman
Affiliations

Spiritual well-being, depressive symptoms, and immune status among women living with HIV/AIDS

Safiya George Dalmida et al. Women Health. 2009 Mar-May.

Abstract

Spirituality is a resource some HIV-positive women use to cope with HIV, and it also may have positive impact on physical health. This cross-sectional study examined associations of spiritual well-being, with depressive symptoms, and CD4 cell count and percentages among a non-random sample of 129 predominantly African-American HIV-positive women. Significant inverse associations were observed between depressive symptoms and spiritual well-being (r = -.55, p = .0001), and its components, existential well-being (r = -.62, p = .0001) and religious well-being (r = -.36, p = .0001). Significant positive associations were observed between existential well-being and CD4 cell count (r = .19, p < .05) and also between spiritual well-being (r = .24, p < .05), religious well-being (r = .21, p < .05), and existential well-being (r = .22, p < .05) and CD4 cell percentages. In this sample of HIV-positive women, spiritual well-being, existential well-being, and religious well-being accounted for a significant amount of variance in depressive symptoms and CD4 cell percentages, above and beyond that explained by demographic variables, HIV medication adherence, and HIV viral load (log). Depressive symptoms were not significantly associated with CD4 cell counts or percentages. A significant relationship was observed between spiritual/religious practices (prayer/meditation and reading spiritual/religious material) and depressive symptoms. Further research is needed to examine relationships between spirituality and mental and physical health among HIV-positive women.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Ader R, Felton DL, Cohen N, editors. Psychoneuroimmunology. 2nd ed Academic Press; San Diego: 1991.
    1. Barnum BS. Spirituality in nursing: From traditional to new age. Springer Publishing Company; New York: 1996.
    1. BD Biosciences BD FACSCalibur Flow Cytometer: The automated, multicolor flow cytometry system. 2002. [Retrieved April 12, 2006]. from BD Biosciences on the World Wide Web: http://www.BDBiosciences.com.
    1. Bosworth HB. The importance of spirituality/religion and health-related quality of life among individuals with HIV/AIDS. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2006;21(Suppl 5):S3–4. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bower JE, Kemeny ME, Taylor SE, Fahey JL. Cognitive processing, discovery of meaning, CD4 decline, and AIDS-related mortality among bereaved HIV-seropositive men. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 1998;66:979–986. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms