Exploring HIV status as a mediator in the relationship of psychological distress with socio-demographic and health related factors in South Africa: findings from the 2012 nationally representative population-based household survey.

"Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participateThe study protocol was approved by the HSRC’s Research Ethics Committee (REC: 5/17/11/10) and the Associate Director of Science of the National Center for HIV and AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, GA, USA. Consent for publicationNot applicable. Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests."

"Funding The data used comes from a study supported by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), whose funding we received through a cooperative agreement (Grant Number 5U2GPS000570) with the USA’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)."