Linear growth modeling of religious coping and social support among Black women living with HIV in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Among Black women living with HIV (BWLWH) the current study aimed to quantitatively assess changes in religious coping and social support over time via linear growth modeling (LGM). BWLWH (N = 276) provided longitudinal survey data on demographics, religious coping, and social support across fourteen study visits (between 2019 and 2024) at three-month intervals in the Southeastern United States. Religious coping and social support mean scores fluctuated over time and were relatively high at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. LGM showed that religious coping significantly increased over time for participants with high religious coping at baseline, while social support's change over time was not statistically significant. Findings may inform clinical practice by providing data that demonstrates the dynamic (vs static) nature of religious coping especially in the temporal context of COVID-19. Future research may expand knowledge on religious coping among BWLWH and may be used to enhance interventions for BWLWH.

Keywords: Black women with HIV; COVID-19; good health and well-being; reduced inequalities; religion.