The stress moderating role of benefit finding on psychological distress and well-being among women living with HIV/AIDS

This study examines whether the perception of having experienced growth as a result of a stressful event, often termed benefit finding, moderates the effects of stress (both physical symptomatology and social conflict) on psychological distress and well-being. For this cross-sectional study, an ethnically diverse sample (N = 138) of women living with HIV/AIDS completed a series of self-report measures. Hierarchical regression analysis demonstrated that physical symptoms, social conflict, and benefit finding were associated with psychological distress and positive affect, even after controlling for social support, locus of control, and demographic confounds. Significant interactions revealed that among women with a high number of HIV-related physical symptoms, benefit finding moderated the negative effects of physical symptoms on both depressive and anxious symptoms. Benefit finding was not found to moderate the effects of social conflict. These findings suggest a potential mechanism (i.e., stress buffering) by which benefit finding could promote psychological adjustment. Further, the finding that benefit finding only moderated the growth-inducing stressor (e.g., the illness), but not the effects of other stressors (e.g., social conflict), suggests possible limits to the stress-buffering role of benefit finding.