Convivir con VIH: el estigma en el proceso de construcción de identidad de personas que conviven con VIH. Un estudio realizado con jóvenes de entre 18 y 27 años en la ciudad de Quito

Abstract

HIV-related stigma is an obstacle that hinders or disrupts the identity construction process of people who live with this infection. People who live with HIV have a high level of stigma regarding their diagnosis, which is affected by repercussions and mental imbalances. In Ecuador there is no data on how stigma affects the process of identity construction, so the objective of this study is to analyze how stigmatization influences the identity construction process of people living with HIV in young people between 18 and 27 years old in the city of Quito. A quantitative study was carried out with a hermeneutical research design that included adults living with HIV in the city of Quito. Stigma was measured with the Berger scale for HIV-related stigma, resilience was assessed with the 14-item Wagnild Resilience Scale (ER-14). In addition, sociodemographic data were collected through a self-prepared survey. The research has scales and surveys which were applied digitally. We worked with 53 resident participants in the city of Quito, where 69.8% of the participants identified as male, 50.9% were between 23 and 27 years old, and 56.6% defined themselves as homosexual. The results showed that 32.10% of the surveyed population has a high level of stigma in relation to their own diagnosis and 41.5% have a very high level of resilience. Therefore, it was concluded that there is a high level of stigma related to HIV, in the same way there is a very high level of resilience, which directly influences the construction of identity.