Social support, coping, and psychological distress among persons with HIV disease.
Int Conf AIDS 1993 Jun 6-11; 9:120 (abstract no. WS-D17-6) Crystal S, Bilder S, Merzel C, Sambamoorthi U; Inst. for Health, Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, NJ.
Correlates of depression (CES-D scale) and of anxiety (SCL-90 scale) were investigated in a demographically diverse New Jersey sample of 267 persons with HIV disease (90% AIDS, 10% other symptomatic illness). Separate analyses were conducted for gay men, injection drug users, and women. Effects of social support, symptom burden, stressful life events, and types of coping on these measures of distress were explored. Four coping factors were identified based on a factor analysis of responses to 16 questionnaire items on reactions to having an HIV related disease. Factors for "escape-avoidance", "cognitive-rediscovery", "cognitive-adaptation", and "positive health behaviors" were distinguished. Over and above the effects of social support and stress variables, the coping factors significantly improved prediction both of depression and of anxiety across the subgroups. The most consistent effect was that of escape-avoidance coping. The escape-avoidance factor was consistently associated with higher depression and higher anxiety, across the subgroups. The structure of self-reported coping, and implications for supportive care, will be discussed.
Keywords: AEGIS, Social Support, Adaptation, Psychological, HIV Infections, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Life Change Events, Depression, Homosexuality, Male, Anxiety, Questionnaires, New Jersey, Human, Female, Male, ICA9 930606
WSD176
