A multidimensional examination of psychological distress among Latina mothers with and without HIV

ABSTRACT

The Latino population is disproportionally affected by HIV in the United States. Latina women, in particular, have significantly higher rates of HIV diagnosis than their White counterparts. Latinas with HIV who are primary family caregivers face multidimensional challenges from caregiving demands to stressors related to chronic illness, acculturation, family functioning, and socioeconomic disparities, which may contribute to higher psychological distress than Latina mothers without HIV. However, to date, scant research has focused on the mental health needs of Latina mothers living with HIV (MLHs) and how these needs are similar or different to Latina mothers without HIV. Thus, using a multidimensional approach we: (a) examined the associations between HIV status, acculturation, family functioning, socioeconomic status, and psychological distress among Latina mothers and (b) identified how these associations differed between Latina mothers with and without HIV. Cross-sectional, self-reported data were obtained via face-to-face interviews from 221 Latina MLHs and 116 Latina neighborhood control mothers (NCMs) living without HIV in Los Angeles, California. Results from multivariate ordinary least square regressions showed that higher acculturation was associated with psychological distress among MLHs, whereas higher levels of family conflict and education were associated with psychological distress among NCMs. Findings highlight the differential mental health needs of Latina mothers based on HIV status. Our study findings provide social work implications for culturally responsive interventions that can address multidimensional stressors experienced by marginalized Latinas MLHs.

KEYWORDS:

• Latina mothers with HIV
• psychological distress
• acculturation
• family functioning
• socioeconomic status

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data and codes underlying the results presented in the study are available from the authors upon request.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health grant R01 MH-068194 (PI: Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus).