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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Apr 1.
Published in final edited form as: Soc Sci Med. 2015 Feb 16;130:154–161. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.02.018

Table 2.

Bivariate Correlations Between Stigma and Health Variables Among People with HIV who Inject Drugs in St. Petersburg, Russia and Kohtla-Järve, Estonia

St. Petersburg Sample Depressive Symptoms Subjective Health Low CD4 Count Symptom Count Regular HIV Care
Subjective Health Rating −.31**
Low CD4 Counta .28** −.32**
Symptom Count .55** −.51** .39**
Receiving Regular HIV Carea −.25** .41** −.19** −.38**
Internalized Drug Stigma .20**b −.34** .26** .43** −.35**
Internalized HIV Stigma .29** −.24** .18* .39** −.43**
Anticipated Drug Stigma .40** −.01 −.02 .38** −.01
Anticipated HIV Stigma .46** −.02 .11 .39** −.15**
Kohtla-Järve Sample Depressive Symptoms Subjective Health Low CD4 Count Symptom Count Regular HIV Care
Subjective Health Rating −.35**
Low CD4 Counta .12 −.09
Symptom Count .21** −.56** −.12
Receiving Regular HIV Carea −.07b −.05 .05 −.01
Internalized Drug Stigma −.09 .07 −.08 −.05 .03
Internalized HIV Stigma −.12* .05 −.06 −.02 −.06
Anticipated Drug Stigma .16** −.05 .00 .00 .07
Anticipated HIV Stigma .10 −.05 .01 .01 −.04
*

p<.05

**

p<.01

Note. Correlations are computed based on all valid observations for the given pair of variables. CD4 count was only available for some of the participants, so correlation tests involving CD4 are less statistically powerful than other correlation tests in this table (see Ns in Table 1).

a

To illustrate the strength of the bivariate relationships on equivalent scales, correlations were computed with binary variables representing low CD4 count (below 350) and receiving regular HIV care.

b

Past work (e.g., Lennon, Huedo-Medina, Gerwien, & Johnson, 2012) has identified a persistent negative relationship between depression and health promotion behavior in the context of HIV. In the Estonian sample, the correlation between depressive symptoms and receiving regular HIV care was not significantly different from zero. This null result should not be interpreted as evidence against any relationship between depressive symptoms and care in Kohtla-Järve. However, it does reflect a weaker relationship in Kohtla-Järve than in St. Petersburg, Z=2.32, p=.020. This result may be related to our primary results of interest pertaining to stigma—lower barriers to care in Estonia may help explain why depressive symptoms were not as closely tied to negative health outcomes there.