Relationships between spirituality and mental stress in people living with HIV in China: a cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

There are limited reports on the relationship between spirituality and mental stress in People living with HIV (PLWH) in China, who may be subject to anti-religious pressures from the government. In this study, we aimed to understand whether spirituality influences Chinese PLWH’s mental stress and, if so, at what level. We recruited 200 PLWHs from Beijing’s Ditan Hospital to complete a cross-sectional survey inquiring about their practice of spirituality as well as their level of mental stress. The study found that PLWH who presented with a mid-level of spirituality have the highest mental stress when compared to those who have a low level of spiritual beliefs or a high level of spiritual beliefs. This study points to the utility of healthcare providers taking PLWH’s potential spirituality into consideration, perhaps in particular for those with a moderate level of spirituality, in order to provide the most comprehensive care possible.

KEYWORDS:

• Spirituality
• depression
• anxiety
• HIV
• non-linear relationship
• China

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge all the study participants. Without them, it would not have been possible to complete this project.

Disclosure statement

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

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The relevant institutional ethical review board of University of Washington approved this study (grant number: #40477B).

Data accessibility statement

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health under Grant K24MH093243 (PI: Jane Simoni). Additionally, this publication was supported (in part) from research supported by an NIH-funded program: NIMHD (7R03MD012210; PI: Wei-Ti Chen), NINR (K23NR14107; PI: Wei-Ti Chen), NIMH (P30MH058107; PI: Steven J. Shoptaw) and NIAID (P30AI152501; PI: Jerome A. Zack, Supplement PI: Wei-Ti Chen). The contents of this article are solely the views of the authors and do not represent the views of the National Institutes of Health.