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Abstract
This study assessed whether coping styles had an influence on physical health outcomes either concurrently or longitudinally in a sample of HIV-positive youth. Coping styles were characterized as positive, passive, depressive withdrawal, and escapist. A cross-sectional latent variable analysis (N = 279) assessed associations among environmental stress, self-esteem, social support, coping styles, AIDS symptoms, and CD4 count. A more restricted longitudinal analysis (N = 174) tested associations among earlier environmental stress, self-esteem, coping styles, and AIDS symptoms at follow-up. CD4 count was not associated with coping styles in the cross-sectional analysis. Concurrent AIDS symptoms were significantly predicted by depressive withdrawal and environmental stress. A passive coping style modestly predicted more AIDS symptoms longitudinally. Correlates of perceived health and well-being of persons with HIV/AIDS are important to investigate in addition to more objective measures such as CD4 count that may not be amenable to change through coping style interventions alone.
Acknowledgments
Support for this research was provided by Grants PO1 DA01070-30 and RO1 DA07903 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and Grant P30 MH58107 from the National Institute of Mental Health. The authors thank Gisele Pham for her secretarial and administrative contributions.
Notes
†Present address: Neuropsychiatric Institute, Center for Community Health, 10920 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 350, Los Angeles, CA 90024-6521. Tel.: 310 794-6077. Fax: 310 794-8297. E-mail: [email protected]