title: Reconnecting to Spirituality: Christian-Identified Adolescents and Emerging Adult Young Men's Journey from Diagnosis of HIV to Coping.
abstract: Spirituality is important to holistic health, yet little is known about its impact on young people with HIV. To address this knowledge deficit, a grounded theory study used semi-structured interviews of 20 Christian-identified adolescent and emerging adult gay males and one perinatally infected male. This study revealed that, to cope with HIV health issues, participants used a process of reconnecting with their spirituality. In order to successfully reconnect with their spirituality, study participants reported a need to re-embrace and re-engage in spiritual practices, hold onto hope, believe they are normal, and commit to beliefs and practices despite rejection from the church.
authors.affiliation: Hahn School of Nursing, University of San Diego, 10146 Challenger Circle, Spring Valley, San Diego, CA, 91978-2016, USA. sharonsmith@sandiego.edu.
authors.forename: Sharon T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, University of California San Diego Medical Center, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blanchard
authors.affiliation: Madge M. Jones Professor, University of Virginia School of Nursing, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kools
authors.affiliation: The To Help Everyone Clinic, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Derrick
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Butler
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D066296:Grounded Theory; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D029181:Spirituality; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescent; Emerging adults; HIV; Spirituality