Perceived HIV stigma and mental health are fluid across the lifespan for people living with perinatally-acquired HIV (PHIV). The process of navigating discredited identities over time in the context of other life demands potentially exerts a toll on the mental health of adolescents and young adults living with PHIV (AYAPHIV). Based on data from a longitudinal study in New York City examining mental health and health risk behaviors among 182 AYAPHIV, we examined if increased perceived HIV stigma predicted mental health, future orientation, HIV-disclosure, and healthcare transition over time (2003-2018). Findings from linear mixed-effects modeling indicated that older age predicted poorer mental health, less future orientation, more HIV-serostatus disclosure, and adult medical services utilization. Perceived stigma was the only significant predictor of mental health and mediated the association between age and mental health-highlighting the importance of addressing stigma across development for AYAPHIV while addressing systems that perpetuate them.
Keywords: Mental health; Perinatal HIV; Stigma; Young adult; Youth.
© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC part of Springer Nature.