AEGiS-13IAC: The existential loneliness questionniare (ELQ): background, development and preliminary findings of a new scale to test existential loneliness in HIV-infected women.

13th International AIDS Conference


Durban, South Africa - July 9-July 14, 2000

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The existential loneliness questionniare (ELQ): background, development and preliminary findings of a new scale to test existential loneliness in HIV-infected women.

Int Conf AIDS 2000 Jul 9-14; 13:(abstract no. ThPeD5800)

Mayers AM, Khoo ST, Svartberg M
A.M. Mayers, Norwegian Univ. Science & Technology, Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Eirikjarlsgate 10, Trondheim N-7489, Norway, Tel.: +47 73 86 7140, Fax: +47 73 86 7166, E-mail: aviva.mayers@medisin.ntnu.no

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the development and preliminary findings of a new scale devised by the first author to test for existential loneliness in HIV-infected women. Based on the clinical work of the first author in a large teaching hospital in New York City it was hypothesized that HIV-infected women are particularly vulnerable to existential loneliness for they carry a deadly virus that may cause not only their own early death but also that of their child. Additionally they struggle with this experience in a culture that frequently shuns them, depriving them of the social and financial support they so urgently require. In light of this, identifying the experience of existential loneliness in this neglected population of women would allow therapists to employ a therapeutic stance which would best ameliorate their condition.

METHODS: The ELQ is a 24 item instrument which assesses the deeper emotion of loneliness experienced by individuals faced with death, multiple loss and isolation. Using item response theory the original pool of 40 items was tested on 47 HIV-infected women. A test of the dimensional structure of the ELQ was precluded due to the small sample size. The ELQ was administered along with the Beck Depression Instrument (BDI), the UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS), The Purpose in Life Scale (PIL) and the Hopelessness Scale (HS) to determine conceptual overlap.

RESULTS: The 24 item ELQ discriminated well between high and low loneliness women. It correlated strongly with the BDI and moderately strongly with the ULS and the PIL. Unlike the ULS, the ELQ discriminated between symptomatic and nonsymptomatic HIV-infected women.

Keywords: AEGIS, Loneliness, HIV Seropositivity, HIV Infections, Affect, Human Development, Depression, Personality Inventory, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Health, New York City, Adult, Human, Female, Child, diagnosis, Psychology, classificationKWDaegis,loneliness,hivseropositivity,hivinfections,affect,humandevelopment,depression,personalityinventory,psychiatricstatusratingscales,health,newyorkcity,adult,human,female,child,diagnosis,psychology,classification
000709
ThPeD5800

Copyright © 2000 - International AIDS Society (IAS). Reproduction of this abstract (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the IAS.