Personality Disposition to HIV/AIDS: A Study of Locus of Control among HIV Positive Women in Thika Sub-County

Abstract

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS remains a major concern in Kenya because of the high rates of infection among adult population and significantly among young people.  Young women, in particular, have consistently been found to have higher prevalence rates than men in the same age group. The major purpose of this study was to investigate personality disposition of HIV/AIDS positive women in Thika district.  The scare study also aimed at find out the locus of control among HIV/AIDS positive women in Thika sub-county.  The central idea was to critically analyze the counseling implications of the findings. The study consisted of 70 respondents all HIV/AIDS positive from Thika sub-county.  To accomplish this objective, Rotter’s I-E scale was availed as an instrument for data collection.  The purposive sampling procedure was used to derive the sample.Expost-facto research design was used.  Descriptive statistics were employed for data analysis.  It was discovered that majority of HIV/AIDS positive women in Thika District had external locus of control.  Externality was noted among respondents of low levels of education.  However, it was noted that there was no difference between scores of respondents living in urban areas and those living in rural. The implications of the results were critically examined.  The results were found to be of particular interests to practicing counselor’s health educators and policy makers.  This is because the findings can be useful in designing public health interventions in control of HIV/AIDS pandemic. Recommendations were made for counselors, education policy makers, as well as for the future researchers.

Key words: Locus of control, HIV/AIDS, personality disposition.