The sense of coherence and resilience of HIV-positive students in the support group of a university in the Eastern Cape

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Most research in South Africa with regard to HIV/AIDS focuses on the HIV counselingand testing of university students while little attention has been paid to how HIV-positivestudents cope in the support groups within the institutions of higher learning. The studyaimed at determining and describing the sense of coherence and the resilience of HIVpositivestudents in a university in the Eastern Cape Province and exploring the differencesbetween the demographics, using the subscale of the sense of coherence (SOC-29) and theresilience assessment questionnaire (RAQ). The students who were registered with theuniversity were chosen as participants by means of non-probability purposive samplingtechnique. The sample consisted of 40 students (Males = 10; Females = 30).A t-test analysis revealed statistically significant differences between demographics(language) and comprehensibility subscale of the sense of coherence (SOC). Furthermore,statistically significant differences between languages, interaction and problem-solvingscales of RAQ were noted. The Cronbach‟s Alpha for SOC and RAQ yielded 0.74 and0.94 respectively in this study. The results show that the participants were coping fairlywell with a chronic disease like HIV/AIDS and that their resilience was also average. Themain recommendation is that the university should increase HIV/AIDS coping be done on a larger scale in an institution that has different race groups.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University