| Summary: | South Africa is characterised as a country with high levels of socioeconomic
inequalities, poverty, violence and a high incidence of HIV/AIDS, which imply numerous
challenges for living conditions of South Africans. These contextual factors cause South
African adolescents to be exposed to multiple life stressors. One of the greatest life threats
confronting young South Africans is the loss of control over their lives caused by HIV/AIDS.
The impact of HIV/AIDS threatens the survival and normal development of children and
adolescents. The most destructive effect of the pandemic on children and adolescents is the
disintegration of traditional social support structures and social networks. Social support is
regarded as one of the most important predictors of physical health and life satisfaction and
plays an important role in the relationship between life stressors and life satisfaction. It
functions as a buffer to decrease the impact of stress and to increase coping abilities when
people find themselves in stressful situations. Social support is provided by parents, family,
extended family, friends, teachers and the broader community and plays an important role,
because these sources of support can soften the impact of stressful life events.
With reference to the details stated above, the purpose of the research was to
determine the role of social support in the life satisfaction of a group of adolescents affected
by HIV/AIDS. This study was undertaken with a group of 218 HIV/AIDS-affected
adolescents from the Northern Cape Province. A qualitative approach was used. A
biographical questionnaire including aspects such as sex, race, home language and the
parents' marital status and socioeconomic status was developed to measure the biographical
variables. The Satisfaction with Life Questionnaire was used to obtain a measure of their life
satisfaction. The Perceived Social Support from Family and Friends Questionnaire and the
Life Stressors and Social Resources Inventory â Youth Form (LISRES-Y) were used to
obtain a measure of their social support.
An analysis of the research results indicates that some biographical variables do play
a role in the life satisfaction and social support of this group of adolescents affected by
HIV/AIDS. Differences in sex and age, socioeconomic status, race and the family structure
seem to play a role in the social support and life satisfaction of these adolescents. In addition,
it is apparent from the research that social support by the family and friends plays a
significant role in the differences in respect of adolescents with high and low levels of life
stressors and life satisfaction. However, throughout the study it was clear that adolescents affected by HIV/AIDS
experienced lower levels of life satisfaction, regardless of the level of social support.
|
|---|
