Open access Original research

Factors influencing self-­concept among

BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022321 on 6 May 2020. Downloaded from http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ on November 23, 2020 by guest. Protected by copyright.
adolescents infected with HIV: a cross-­
sectional survey in China
Siyuan Ke,1 Yanjie Yang,1 Xiuxian Yang,1 Xiaohui Qiu,1 Zhengxue Qiao,1
Xuejia Song,1 Erying Zhao,1 Wenbo Wang,1 Jiawei Zhou,1 Yuewu Cheng2

To cite: Ke S, Yang Y, Abstract

Yang X, et al. Factors Overview  The mental health problems of adolescents
Strengths and limitations of this study
influencing self-­concept with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are important. It
among adolescents infected ►► This is the first study to determine the factors in-
is of great significance to explore which factors can affect
with HIV: a cross-­sectional fluencing self-­concept among adolescents with HIV
the self-­evaluation and understanding of adolescents with
survey in China. BMJ Open in China.
2020;10:e022321. doi:10.1136/ HIV.
►► Although adolescents with HIV are a special group,
bmjopen-2018-022321 Objective  We found that adolescents with HIV have a
the sample size was suitably powered to allow
lower level of self-­concept than healthy adolescents. This
►► Prepublication history for statistical analysis including hierarchical linear
study aimed to determine the factors influencing self-­
this paper is available online. To regression.
concept among adolescents with HIV in China.
view these files, please visit the ►► This was a cross-­sectional study and thus causal
Setting  A questionnaire was distributed among a
journal online (http://​dx.​doi.o​ rg/​ relationships between the self-­concept of adoles-
10.​1136bmjopen-​2018-0​ 22321) total of 290 adolescents in Henan Province, China. One
cents with HIV and influencing factors require fur-
hundred and forty questionnaires were distributed in the
ther exploration.
Received 16 February 2018 case group (adolescents with HIV) and the control group
Revised 05 October 2019 (healthy adolescents) was issued 150 questionnaires.The
Accepted 14 October 2019 Piers-­Harris Children’s Self-­concept Scale, the Perceived
Stress Scale, the Perceived Social Support Scale and the population has increased significantly.2 HIV
Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire were adapted for a is spread through exposure to HIV-­infected
Chinese population. Differences between the groups were blood or other body fluids. The primary
tested for significance using Student’s t-­test, and analysis transmission modes include contact with an
of variance was used to test continuous variables. The
infected person’s body fluids during unpro-
relationship between environmental personality factors
tected sex, blood-­to-­blood exposure (either
and adolescent self-­concept was examined by Pearson
correlation analysis. Hierarchical linear regression analysis by direct contact or through needle sharing
was used to model the effects of environmental personality among injection drug users) and perinatal
factors on self-­concept. transmission from infected mother to child.
Results  The self-­concept total score among adolescents The main target of mother-­to-­child transmis-
with HIV was significantly lower than healthy adolescents sion of AIDS is children and adolescents and
(p<0.05). Hierarchical regression analysis indicated the inevitable consequence is that a large
that age (β=−0.19, t=−2.16, p=0.03), perceived stress number of adolescents lose their parents
(β=−0.19, t=−2.22, p=0.03), perceived social support because of AIDS. The typical socioeconomic
(β=0.26, t=3.25, p=0.00), positive coping style (β=0.50, status of families and individuals in commu-
© Author(s) (or their t=5.75, p=0.00) and negative coping style (β=−0.45,
nities with a high incidence of AIDS means
employer(s)) 2020. Re-­use t=−5.33, p=0.00) were significantly associated with self-­
that those adolescents who have acquired
permitted under CC BY-­NC. No concept total scores.
commercial re-­use. See rights Conclusions  The self-­concept of adolescents with HIV is AIDS through mother-­ to-­
child transmission
and permissions. Published by related to perceived stress, perceived social support and have a visible vulnerability in terms of phys-
BMJ. coping style. These findings underline the significance of ical, psychological and social adaptation.3 At
1
Medical Psychology self-­concept among adolescents infected with HIV. present, the number of adolescents with HIV
Department, Public Health in China is large and rapidly increasing. Living
School of Harbin Medical
University, Harbin, Heilongjiang,
conditions, social environment and mental
China Introduction health difficulties are serious problems that
2
Shangcai Center for Disease Over the years, AIDS has spread throughout have had an enormous impact on the growth
Control and Prevention, the world at an extremely rapid rate. In and development of adolescents with HIV.
Zhumadian, Henan, China 1985, AIDS began to spread in a few African The study of Qian and Wang in China in
Correspondence to countries. By 2005, AIDS had affected nearly 2007 reported that prejudice and discrimina-
Professor Yanjie Yang; all countries and regions worldwide.1 As a tion have a substantial negative impact on the
​yanjie1965@​163.​com result of AIDS, the mortality rate of the adult health of adolescents with HIV.4 The mental

Ke S, et al. BMJ Open 2020;10:e022321. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022321 1

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health difficulties experienced by the children who lost formation and development of self-­ concept. Perceived
their parents to HIV/AIDS are mainly due to a decrease stress is the result of the perceptual assessment of an indi-
in self-­concept and an increase in depression.5–7 All the vidual's own experience of stress resulting from specific
difficulties described above impact on self-­concept among situations or events.23 People have different perceptions
adolescents with HIV, and we predict that self-­concept in about events that occur and their psychological response
adolescents with HIV is lower than in healthy adolescents. differs. Differences in psychological response will have
Self-­concept is a cognitive assessment of one’s own abili- different effects on mental health. In Africa, the incidence
ties and weaknesses8 and plays an important role in mental of AIDS is extremely high and adolescents are often in a
health. Low levels of self-­concept are a risk factor of mental high-­crime and precarious environment.24 Such an envi-
health problems. High levels of self-­concept are considered ronment may aggravate their sense of pressure, and thus
to be a protective factor that hinders the development of affect their self-­concept.
psychological problems and promotes general health.9–12 Social support is considered to be an important factor
Harter proposed a multidimensional model of self-­concept affecting psychological stress and physical health. From a
from the perspective of developmental psychology and psychological perspective, Cobb suggests that social support
believed that adolescence was a critical period for the devel- includes the following: emotional support; respect and
opment of self-­ concept.13 An individual’s perception of support; and member attribution.25 Social support can
himself/herself changes significantly during adolescence, significantly predict the emotional behaviour of adoles-
or even undergoes a dramatic reversal.14 In the early stages cents, and higher social support has a protective effect on
of puberty, adolescents are more likely to compare them- adolescent mental health.26 Researchers have shown that
selves with others, and to consider how they are perceived the relationship between social support and self-­concept
and judged by others. Adolescents also begin to give higher is stable and positively correlated. There is a difference
value to these judgements.15 Social psychology studies have between social support factors and the correlation between
shown that during and after puberty, children become more the fractal dimensions of self-­concept. Social support for
self-­conscious, more receptive and more concerned about adolescents is primarily derived from parents, teachers,
the opinions of others.16 17 One developmental psychology classmates and friends. Demaray et al27 report that the
study has shown that during and after puberty, an adoles- relationship between the frequency of social support and
cent’s self-­evaluation becomes more comprehensive and self-­concept is significant. Forman et al28 have shown that
changes from that held previously.18 Previous studies have social support may prevent teenagers with learning disabil-
shown that specific groups of adolescents may be vulnerable ities (LD) from mood disorders. Adolescents with LD who
to lower levels of self-­concept than found in normal groups. receive more social support from their parents, teachers,
For example, studies of adolescents with chronic diseases and peers, have higher levels of self-­concept than adoles-
have shown that their level of self-­concept is significantly cents who receive less social support.29 Barroso30 concluded
lower than healthy adolescents. Adolescents with chronic that social support is an important factor for adults who are
diseases often feel insecure, lonely, isolated and controlled long-­term survivors of AIDS. Lack of social support may
by changes resulting from chronic disease.19 20 Therefore, also cause adolescents with HIV to have lower levels of self-­
we suggest that chronic diseases such as AIDS will have a concept. Cluver et al31 report that orphans in particular may
serious impact on the self-­concept of adolescents. To date, have a lack of social support due to illness or death of family
no studies have investigated the self-­concept of Chinese members, thereby distorting their cognitions about them-
adolescents with HIV. In China, adolescents with HIV selves and others.
represent a large but specific group who have experienced An adolescent’s self-­ concept is not only affected by
multiple losses throughout their lives, thus increasing their external environmental factors, but their own internal
risk of psychopathology.21 Therefore, studying the devel- factors. Individual coping styles and other factors have a
opment of self-­concept among adolescents with HIV, and significant impact on the emergence and development of
identifying methods to help them maintain psychological self-­concept. Coping style refers to the change in cogni-
well-­being and healthy growth is of clear importance. tion and/or behaviour used by an individual in a partic-
The formation and development of self-­concept is influ- ular stressful situation, with the aim of managing emotions
enced by many factors. It has been shown that teacher– and improving the problem.32 Individuals adopt specific
student relationships, peer relationships, parent–child coping styles and measures according to their own experi-
relationships, parenting patterns, perceived stress, ences after cognitive assessment of the response process.
perceived social support and individual coping styles, Coping style has an important impact on the status of
are all likely to have an impact on self-­concept among an individual's environmental adaptation and mental
adolescents.22 The current study explored the factors health.33 At present, an important research aspect in clin-
which influence the self-­concept of adolescents with HIV, ical psychology is the study of the relationship between an
focusing on both risk and protective factors, and external individual’s coping style, and physical and mental health.
environment-­individual internal characteristics. Xinyi et al34 have shown that the clarity of self-­awareness
A large body of research suggests that factors such or self-­concept is related to more active coping behaviour.
as perceived stress and perceived social support in the Studies of HIV-­infected individuals and their coping styles
external environment have a significant impact on the suggest that a high level of active coping is positively

2 Ke S, et al. BMJ Open 2020;10:e022321. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022321

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related to immunisation measures, and may indirectly ensuring no harm to the adolescents, we first obtained
affect the self-­concept of the AIDS patient.35 the informed consent of the guardian of the teenagers,
This study was designed to explore the factors which and then the informed consent of the adolescents them-
influence the self-­concept of adolescents with HIV. We selves. Informed written consent was sought from the
investigated the self-­ concept of adolescents with HIV, adolescents and their guardians. If a child had lost both
considered the environmental and individual levels parents (ie, in the case of orphans), we obtained the
and analysed the relationship between perceived stress, informed consent from the child and his guardian.
perceived social support, coping style and self-­concept, Adolescents with HIV, from 10 to 20 (inclusive) years of
in order to better understand the role of self-­concept age, comprised the case group. The healthy adolescents
among adolescents with HIV. We believe this is the first in Shangcai county who were not infected with HIV were
study of this kind in China. used as the control group. Their parents were healthy
and the family was complete. Inclusion criteria: age 10–20
years old; the patient meets the definition in this study of
Methods an adolescent with HIV; in the first half of the investiga-
Sample size and sampling technique tion, the adolescents have been living in Shangcai county.
The current study was conducted in a rural county in Henan The exclusion criteria were: unconfirmed HIV infection
province, China, where many residents were infected with status; the patient is too ill to participate in the study.
HIV through blood collection using inadequate hygiene The interviewers were trained education and psychology
techniques. This rural county has the highest prevalence graduate students. It took about 1 hour to complete the
of HIV infection in the area. We obtained village-­level HIV entire assessment inventory, including taking breaks.
surveillance data from the antiepidemic station in each of The questionnaires were collected immediately when
the counties to identify the villages with the highest number completed. We checked the questionnaires to avoid
of AIDS-­related deaths and confirmed HIV infections. The errors and ensure data quality and provided a gift as a
adolescents we surveyed were all infected by mother-­ to-­ token of appreciation for participation. All participants
child transmission of HIV. signed informed consent forms after receiving explana-
A questionnaire was distributed among two groups of tions of the research purpose, meaning and content. All
adolescents: 140 questionnaires were distributed in the of the adolescents participated voluntarily.
case group (adolescents with HIV) and 139 valid question-
naires were returned (response rate of 99.3%). Among Patient and public involvement
the adolescents in the case group, there were 88 boys Self-­concept is a cognitive assessment of one’ s own abil-
(63.3%) and 51 girls (36.7%), and the average age was ities and weaknesses. Self-­ concept itself is the subjec-
15.89±2.8 years. The control group (healthy adolescents) tive and internal evaluation of one’s self. Therefore, we
was issued 150 questionnaires, and 144 valid question- selected the Piers-­ Harris Children's Self-­concept Scale
naires were returned (response rate of 96.0%). Among to measure their self-­concept, without the influence of
the adolescents in the control group, there were 91 boys subjective preference on the results. We have sent the
(63.2%) and 53 girls (36.8%), and the average age was results to the local CDC in the form of email after we get
13.85±1.2 years. The total number of participants in this the results. The CDC informs participants by phone.
study was therefore 283 adolescents aged 10–20 years
and of Han ethnicity. Participation of the adolescents was
voluntary, and all provided informed consent. Measures
Outcome measures
Procedure The Piers-­Harris Children’s Self-­concept Scale is a paper-­
To recruit adolescents with HIV, we worked with the town and-­pencil test consisting of 80 items which are scored as
leaders to generate lists of adolescents with confirmed either true or false. The items are self-­descriptive declar-
diagnoses of HIV/AIDS. We approached the adolescents ative statements. The scores range from 1 to 80; higher
on the lists and invited them to participate in the study. scores indicate higher levels of self-­concept. The state-
We contacted the headmasters of local schools with the ments are worded in both positive and negative language
help of the Center for Disease Control and the Prevention to control for social desirability responding. The scale has
(CDC) officer. The headmasters in each school called the good reliability and validity and the Cronbach’s alpha of
adolescents with HIV together. To protect participants’ the scale was 0.858 in the current study.
privacy, the headmasters worked with adolescents to Stress related to interpersonal stressors was assessed by
come up with an individualised plan for assessment in the Perceived Stress Scale. The scale consists of 10 items.
terms of the preferable time and place for them to feel Each item has a score range of 0–4, with a possible total
comfortable to meet with the researchers. After the eligi- score of 40. Higher scores indicate higher levels of stress.
bility of an adolescent was confirmed, the interviewer(s) The internal consistency measured by Cronbach’s alpha
provided him/her with a detailed description of the study in this study was 0.847.
design, potential benefits and risks, confidentiality issues The Perceived Social Support Scale consists of 12 items
and invited him/her to participate. On the premise of that were revised from three subscales (family, friend and

Ke S, et al. BMJ Open 2020;10:e022321. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022321 3

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other support). Participants responded to the items on a
Table 1  Comparison of the levels of self-­concept between
7-­point Likert-­type scale indicating disagreement/agree- HIV-­infected and control adolescents
ment. Each item was divided into a total score for social
Adolescents Healthy
support. Items were adjusted to be more appropriate for
with HIV adolescents
children with HIV in the current study. The items ‘leaders, (n=139) (n=144) T P value
relatives and colleagues’ were changed to ‘teachers, rela-
tives and students. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.887 in this Self-­ 51.55 60.22 −9.37 0.00**
study. We used the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire concept
score
(SCSQ) to measure coping style. The SCSQ includes 20
items that contain two dimensions of coping (positive
and negative). Each dimension consists of 10 items, and
each item is scored on a 5-­point scale, where 1 indicates years, 31. The family economic status was as follows: good,
‘certainly not’ and 5 indicates ‘certainly.’ A higher score 48; moderate, 79 and poor, 12. Fifty-­seven and eighty-­two
on one dimension indicates that the individual is more adolescents with HIV did and did not have an intact
likely to use this type of coping strategy. The question- family structure, respectively. No significant differences
naire is highly reliable and suitable for a Chinese popu- in self-­concept total scores existed between gender, age,
lation. The Cronbach’s alpha for the two independent family economic status or family structure (table 2).
dimensions of coping were 0.70 and 0.69.
Relationship between perceived stress, perceived social
Data analysis support, coping style factors and self-concept total scores
The SPSS V.19.0 program (IBM) was used for statistical anal- We collected self-­ concept total scores for perceived
ysis. All tests were two tailed and the significance level was stress, perceived social support and coping style factors
set at a p<0.05. Differences between the groups were tested in adolescents with HIV (table 3). Statistically signifi-
using Student’s t-­test and analysis of variance was used to cant linear relationships existed among perceived stress,
test continuous variables. The relationship between envi- perceived social support, coping style factors and the self-­
ronmental personality factors and adolescent self-­concept concept total scores of adolescents with HIV (p<0.05).
was examined using Pearson correlation analyses. Hier- Among these variables, perceived stress (r=–0.23, p<0.05)
archical linear regression analysis was used to model the and negative coping style (r=–0.26, p<0.05) were nega-
effects of environmental personality factors on self-­concept tively related to the self-­concept total scores. Conversely,
in adolescents. In the regression model, gender, age, family perceived social support (r=0.28, p<0.05) and positive
economic status and family structure were entered in the coping style (r=0.25, p<0.05) were positively associated
first block to control for potential confounding variables. with self-­concept total scores.
In the second block, perceived stress factors were entered
into the model. Third, after controlling for sociodemo- Hierarchical linear regression analysis of the relationship
graphic variables and perceived stress factors, perceived among perceived stress, perceived social support, coping
social support was entered into the model. Finally, after style factors and self-concept total scores
controlling for sociodemographic variables, perceived Eight variables accounted for 37.0% of the total variance
stress factors and perceived social support, coping style was of the self-­concept total scores (table 4). The control
entered into the model. variables accounted for 7% of the variance in the self-­
concept total scores (F change=2.46), and among the
control variables, age (β=−0.19, t=−2.16, p=0.03) was
Results significantly associated with the self-­concept total scores.
Study population By including the perceived stress variable, the variance
Adolescents were asked to report on individual and family which could be explained increased to 10%. The vari-
characteristics including age, gender, family economic ance in self-­concept total scores (F change=4.91) and
status (ie, good, moderate and poor) and family structure perceived stress (β=−0.19, t=−2.22, p=0.03) was signifi-
(intact/non-­intact). cantly associated with the self-­ concept total scores.
Comparison of self-concept between the case group and Adding the perceived social support factor contributed
control group to an additional 7% of the variance in the self-­concept
The self-­ concept levels of adolescents with HIV were total scores (F change=10.55), and perceived social
significantly lower than healthy adolescents (p<0.05; support (β=0.26, t=3.25, p=0.00) was significantly asso-
table 1). ciated with the self-­concept total scores. Finally, adding
the positive and negative coping factors contributed to
Sociodemographic data and self-concept total scores by an additional 20% of the variance in the self-­concept
different sociodemographic variables total scores (F change=21.00). Positive (β=0.50, t=5.75,
Of the 139 participants, 88 were males and 51 were p=0.00) and negative coping styles (β=−0.45, t=−5.33,
females. The number of participants in each age group p=0.00) were significantly associated with the self-­
was as follows: 8–13 years, 28; 13–16 years, 80 and 16–18 concept total scores.

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changes dramatically during adolescence and increases
Table 2  Participants’ sociodemographic data and self-­
concept total scores by sociodemographic variables significantly with age.36 Our findings showed that the
older the adolescents with HIV, the lower the level of self-­
Self-­concept
Group N (%) score F/t P value concept. We concluded that for this group of adolescents,
with age, some drop out of school due to illness, face the
Gender 0.08 0.78
fear of disease, even social pressure and discrimination
  Male 88 (63.3) 52.08±10.71 Adolescents lose confidence as part of their experience
  Female 51 (36.7) 50.65±11.27 of disease along with increased social stress, thus older
Age 1.44 0.24 adolescents with HIV have lower self-­concept levels.
  8–13 28 (20.1) 53.43±11.86 Our findings showed that perceived stress is negatively
  13–16 80 (57.6) 50.21±10.67 related to self-­ concept in adolescents with HIV. This
  16–18 31 (22.3) 53.32±10.44
finding was similar to related previous studies, although
none of which examined the relationship between self-­
Family 2.74 0.07
economic concept and perceived stress of adolescents with HIV.
status Civitci37 and Hoffman et al38 report high negative correla-
  Good 48 (34.5) 50.46±10.03 tions between self-­concept and perceived stress in adoles-
  Moderate 79 (56.8) 51.18±11.38
cents. A study in China also showed that the intensity of
perceived stress was significantly correlated with the level
  Poor 12 (8.6) 58.42±10.90
of self-­concept, which was consistent with the results of
Family 0.18 0.67 our study conducted in adolescents with HIV.39 Because
structure
of the lethality of AIDS and disease-­related social discrimi-
  Intact 82 (59.0) 52.63±10.46
nation, people with HIV are often subject to great psycho-
  Non-­ 57 (41.0) 50.00±11.42 logical stress.40 41 Adolescents with HIV not only face the
intact
long-­term psychological pain of losing parents, but also
continue to face a variety of external stressors. These
Discussion factors can lead to higher perceived stress of adolescents
This study was the first to explore the factors which influ- with HIV than that experienced by healthy adolescents,
ence self-­concept among adolescents in China infected thus their self-­concept tends to be lower. Therefore, in
with HIV. We selected a group of adolescents with HIV, the education of families and schools with adolescents
and analysed the risk and protective factors. The purpose with HIV, we should teach them how to best manage and
of this study was to determine whether perceived stress, deal with stress, and how to increase their level of self-­
perceived social support and coping style are related to concept. We should mainly encourage them to develop
the self-­ concept of adolescents with HIV. The overall their resilience. The society should provide adolescents
results confirmed that age, perceived stress, perceived who have HIV with social support from a professional
social support and coping style factors were associated psychological perspective.
with self-­ concept in adolescents with HIV. Specifically, We found that perceived social support was positively
younger age, lower perceived stress and lower levels of related to self-­concept among adolescents infected with
negative coping styles were associated with higher levels HIV. The existing literature also suggests that adoles-
of self-­concept among adolescents with HIV. Conversely, cents infected with HIV who receive more perceived
higher perceived social support and more positive coping social support report higher levels of self-­ concept. A
styles were positively correlated with the self-­concept of survey involving 21 HIV-­positive patients in a southern
adolescents with HIV. These findings highlight the signif- US city reported that a high level of self-­concept largely
icance of these factors on the self-­concept of adolescents depends on positive social support and interactions.42 In
with HIV. a 5-­year follow-­up longitudinal study, Havik et al found
Our results showed that age significantly influenced that the greater the perceived social support among
the self-­concept of adolescents with HIV. Developmental adolescents infected with HIV, the higher the psycholog-
psychology has shown that the children’s self-­ concept ical adaptation and the higher the self-­concept. An inter-
national study showed that social support from teachers,
classmates and parents increases the self-­ concept of
Table 3  Correlations among perceived stress, perceived adolescents with HIV.43 This was consistent with the find-
social support, coping style factors and self-­concept total ings of our study. In some areas, HIV knowledge is not
scores adequate, and adolescents with HIV are often subjected
Perceived Positive Negative to discrimination and indifference from others, resulting
Perceived social coping coping in their fear of being rejected. As a result, adolescents
stress support style style with HIV lose self-­confidence and their sense of self-­
Self-­concept −0.23** 0.28** 0.25** −0.26** concept suffers. Therefore, we should increase awareness
of how to treat and manage AIDS patients. We should
*p <0.05, **p <0.01, ***p <0.001.
encourage adolescents with HIV to interact with others,

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Table 4  Hierarchical linear regression analysis of the relationships among perceived stress, perceived social support, coping
style factors and self-­concept total scores
β T P value F change R2 R2 change
Step 1 2.46 0.07 0.07
  Gender −0.08 −0.98 0.33
  Age −0.19 −2.16 0.03
  Family economic status 0.10 1.10 0.27
  Family structure 0.11 1.31 0.19
Step 2 4.91 0.10 0.03
  Gender −0.10 −1.17 0.24
  Age −0.12 −1.37 0.17
  Family economic status 0.10 1.19 0.24
  Family structure 0.10 1.14 0.26
  Perceived stress −0.19 −2.22 0.03
Step 3 10.55 0.17 0.07
  Gender −0.11 −1.36 0.18
  Age 0.13 −1.55 0.12
  Family economic status 0.06 0.73 0.47
  Family structure 0.09 1.16 0.25
  Perceived stress −0.18 −2.12 0.04
  Perceived social support 0.26 3.25 0.00
Step 4 21.00 0.37 0.20
  Gender −0.13 −1.76 0.08
  Age −0.15 −1.98 0.05
  Family economic status 0.05 0.64 0.52
  Family structure 0.07 0.91 0.36
  Perceived stress −0.17 −2.20 0.03
  Perceived social support 0.15 2.06 0.04
  Positive coping style 0.50 5.75 0.00
  Negative coping style −0.45 −5.33 0.00

enhance self-­confidence and actively participate in social individual’s self-­evaluation and understanding. There-
activities. fore, the development of a positive or negative coping
Correlation analyses showed that there was a significant style for self-­concept is very important. Adolescents with
positive correlation between self-­concept, positive coping HIV should be encouraged to adopt positive and active
style and problem-­solving among adolescents with HIV, coping strategies which will improve self-­ confidence,
which was negatively correlated with negative coping resilience and self-­concept.
style, such as escape, withdrawal and inferiority. There We identified four factors which influence the self-­
are many studies that support our conclusion. Norcini concept of adolescents with HIV and discussed two
Pala and Steca44 reported that individuals with active aspects of the risk and protective factors, so that future
coping strategies acquire a high self-­ concept, whereas work can develop a two-­way intervention. Our findings
individuals with passive-­avoidant coping styles will have suggest that we should provide more social support to
low self-­esteem. In a northern California adolescent adolescents with HIV so that they can cope with difficul-
sample, Mantzicopoulos45 found that high self-­concept ties in a positive way and reduce their feelings of stress,
was correlated with active-­positive coping styles. Adoles- which may lead to improvements in their self-­concept.
cents with HIV are a specific group and they face many
more pressures than healthy adolescents. Such pressures Study limitations
will necessitate facing problems, which may result in a Some limitations of this study must be acknowledged. First,
negative coping style, such as escapism. The development the sample size of this study was small. Adolescents with HIV
of a long-­term negative coping style is associated with a reside in widely dispersed areas. The survey was conducted
variety of psychological problems, which can affect an in a county of China in Henan province where adolescents

6 Ke S, et al. BMJ Open 2020;10:e022321. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022321

Open access

BMJ Open: first published as 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022321 on 6 May 2020. Downloaded from http://bmjopen.bmj.com/ on November 23, 2020 by guest. Protected by copyright.
with HIV are relatively concentrated. Therefore, the find- 8 Minkley N, Westerholt DM, Kirchner WH. Academic self-­concept of
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out using the scale evaluation method, and for adolescents in adolescence: the relationship between control weight attitudes,
with HIV the differences in individual language and verbal behaviors, and body weight status. Front Nutr 2015;2:14.
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cognitive abilities may interfere with the final findings. concept during adolescence. Trends Cogn Sci 2008;12:441–6.
Fourth, the adolescents we surveyed were all infected from 16 Parker JG, Rubin KH, Erath SA, et al. Peer relationships, child
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Contributors  YY and SK conceived and designed the study, supervised the 18 Tsai M-­C, Chou Y-­Y, Lin S-­J. Assessment of experience and training
analysis and interpreted the data. XY and XQ supervised the analysis, interpreted needs in adolescent medicine: perspectives from pediatricians. Tzu
the data and wrote the preliminary manuscript. ZQ, XS and EZ supervised the Chi Medical Journal 2011;23:37–41.
data collection by JZ, WW and YC. SK performed the test administration, compiled 19 Kaplan KM, Wadden TA. Childhood obesity and self-­esteem. J
the data and wrote the preliminary manuscript. All authors contributed to the Pediatr 1986;109:367–70.
writing and review of the manuscript and approved the final version. We wish to 20 Onyike CU, Crum RM, Lee HB, et al. Is obesity associated with
thank International Science Editing for their help in editing the language of the major depression? results from the third National health and nutrition
manuscript. At the same time, we would like to thank the patient advisers for their examination survey. Am J Epidemiol 2003;158:1139–47.
21 Manhua Zhang. Study on physical and psychological problems and
cooperation and support in this study.
the intervention of children Affectted by HIV/AIDS. Medicine and
Funding  The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any Society 2011.
funding agency in the public, commercial or not-­for-­profit sectors. 22 Bokhorst CL, Sumter SR, Westenberg PM. Social support
from parents, friends, Classmates, and teachers in children
Competing interests  None declared. and adolescents aged 9 to 18 years: who is perceived as most
supportive? Soc Dev 2010;19:417–26.
Patient consent for publication  Parental/guardian consent obtained.
23 Bogdan R, Pizzagalli DA. The heritability of hedonic capacity and
Ethics approval  The research met ethical guidelines according to the Declaration perceived stress: a twin study evaluation of candidate depressive
of Helsinki, and approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of Harbin Medical phenotypes. Psychol Med 2009;39:211–8.
University. 24 Bekker L-­G, Jaspan H, McIntyre J, Gray G, Bruyn GD, et al.
Adolescents and HIV vaccine trials: what are the clinical trial site
Provenance and peer review  Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed. issues? J Int Assoc Physicians AIDS Care 2005;4:93–7.
25 Cobb S. Social support as a moderator of life stress. Psychosom
Data availability statement  No data are available.
Med 1976;38:300–14.
Open access  This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the 26 Martinson LE, Esposito-­Smythers C, Blalock DV. The effects of
Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-­NC 4.0) license, which parental mental health and social-­emotional coping on adolescent
permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-­commercially, eating disorder attitudes and behaviors. J Adolesc 2016;52:154–61.
and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is 27 Demaray MK, Malecki CK, Rueger SY, et al. The role of youth's
ratings of the importance of socially supportive behaviors in the
properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use relationship between social support and self-­concept. J Youth
is non-­commercial. See: http://​creativecommons.​org/​licenses/​by-​nc/​4.​0/. Adolesc 2009;38:13–28.
28 Forman EA. The effects of social support and school placement
on the Self—Concept of LD students. Learning Disability Quarterly
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