Now and Again It Really Hits Me: The Impact of an HIV-positive Diagnosis upon Psychosocial Well- being

Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from a sample of 66 seropositive and 67 seronegative men and women about the impact of an HIV diagnosis upon psychosocial well-being. No significant differences between seropositives and seronegatives were found on any of the psychosocial measures except hopelessness. Nor was there significant variation by disease progression (but this may be due to the restricted size of the sample). The qualitative data are used to illustrate these findings and explore their meaning. It is concluded that, with the exception of a hopeless future orientation, psychosocial disturbance of seropositives tends to be episodic and short-lived and thereby difficult to measure.