Psychological frailness and strength in an AIDS‐affected community: A study of seropositive gay men and voluntary caregivers

• Published in: American journal of community psychology Vol. 19; no. 2; pp. 279 - 287
• Main Authors: Viney, Linda L., Crooks, Levinia, Walker, Beverly M., Henry, Rachael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Kluwer Academic Publishers-Plenum Publishers 01.04.1991; Plenum Press; Blackwell Science Ltd
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - psychology; Adaptation, Psychological; Adult; AIDS; AIDS/HIV; Anger; Anxiety; Australia; Content analysis; Depression; Gays & lesbians; HIV Infections - psychology; Homosexuality - psychology; Humans; Male; Men; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; Psychology; Social research; Volunteers; Australia; Sydney New South Wales Australia
• ISSN: 0091-0562; 1573-2770
• DOI: 10.1007/BF00937931

Addressed both the psychological frailness and strength in an AIDS-affected community. The gay community in Sydney, Australia, was represented by men who were seropositive (n = 60) and voluntary caregivers (n = 60). They were compared with two samples of men outside the gay community, who were ill with non-AIDS-related medical conditions (n = 30), and well (n = 30). Their psychological frailness and strength were measured by content analysis scales. Both the seropositive men and the caregivers showed the frailness of anxiety, indirectly expressed anger and helplessness, but also the compensating strength of greater personal competence and good feeling relative to the other men. The men who were seropositive or had other illnesses showed the predicted frailness of anxiety and depression but neither indirectly expressed anger nor helplessness. The seropositive men and caregivers of the gay community differed from each other only in the high levels of depression of the former.