Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 3, 2026

An Affordable HIV-1 Drug Resistance Monitoring Method for Resource Limited Settings
Published on: March 30, 2014
The dynamic relationship between social support and HIV-related stigma in rural Uganda
Sae Takada1, Sheri D Weiser, Elias Kumbakumba
1Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA, takada@post.harvard.edu.
Background:
Cross-sectional studies show that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) stigma is negatively correlated with social support.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study is to examine the bidirectional relationship between social support and HIV stigma.
Methods:
We collected quarterly data from a cohort of 422 people living with HIV in Uganda, followed for a median of 2.1 years. We used multilevel regression to model the contemporaneous and 3-month-lagged associations between social support and both enacted and internalized stigma.
Results:
Lagged enacted stigma was negatively correlated with emotional and instrumental social support, and lagged instrumental social support was negatively correlated with enacted stigma. Internalized stigma and emotional social support had reciprocal lagged associations.
Conclusions:
Interventions to reduce enacted stigma may strengthen social support for people living with HIV. Improved social support may in turn have a protective influence against future enacted and internalized stigma.
Related Concept Videos
Impact of Social Context on Individuals
Social Relationships and Well-Being
Sexually Transmitted Infections
Relationship Formation
Psychological and Sociocultural Causes of Schizophrenia
Importance of Need for Affiliation

