I am Brenda Wanjiru Gutu, I joined the University of Nairobi in September 2015 as a University of
Nairobi Scholarship beneficiary. I specialized into Community Psychology because I felt a need to
understand how programmes are designed, implemented and evaluated; the role of psychology in the
larger scheme of things. By virtue of team work in class with our lecturer, in March 2017, we presented a
paper in the 8th African Evaluation Conference held in Kampala, Uganda. Together with our lecturer and
my classmates, in December 2017, we presented a paper in the International Development Evaluation
Association Conference in Guanajuato, Mexico. I appreciate the University of Nairobi for having
believed in me, I am proud to impact my country and the world in all that I have been groomed to be.
Abstract
There are an approximated 2.1 million HIV-positive adolescents in the world and 15% of the HIV-infected
females are young women 15 to 24 years old; of these, 80% live in sub-Saharan Africa, hence, HIV
predominance among juvenile females of ages 15 to 19 years is very elevated. The UNAIDS Gap Report
concluded that there is a gap in provision of psychological services addressing stigma among other
reproductive health needs among adolescent girls as they prepare for adulthood. The study used a cross-
sectional research design. Three questionnaires were adopted to assess the three variables. Study participants
were recruited from adolescents in long-term follow-up in the five HIV Comprehensive Care Centres in Ruiru
Sub-County, Kiambu County, Kenya. The sample included 75 adolescents in the age of 12-19 years.
Regression analysis was used to check the effect of perceived stigma on psychological wellness and
interpersonal relationships. The results revealed that perceived stigma was a significant predictor of
psychological wellness, t = -3.293, p = 0.020. The results further showed that perceived stigma was indeed a
significant predictor of interpersonal relationships, t = -3.505, p = 0.001. Correlation analysis revealed that
psychological wellness and quality of interpersonal relationships are positively related, r = 0.340. Regression
analysis results also showed that disclosure, family awareness, friends’ awareness, friends’ emotional support,
type of hospital support were significant predictors of psychological wellness and interpersonal relationships.
According to the results however, gender was not a significant predictor of psychological wellness and
interpersonal relationships.