Avoidance as a predictor of the biological course of HIV infection over a 7-year period in gay men.
The present study prospectively investigated the relation between avoidance coping and active cognitive and behavioral coping and the progression of HIV infection over 7 years in 181 gay men. Findings revealed that for a number of medical and behavioral factors, (a) avoidance coping predicted a lower rate of decline in CD4 cells, (b) the proportional hazard (PH) attributable to avoidance of developing a syncytium-inducing HIV variant was 0.72 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.53 - 0.99, p < .05), and (c) the PH attributable to avoidance of dropping below 200 CD4 cells/microl was 0.66 (95% CI: 0.50 - 0.89, p < .01). Avoidance coping was not related to the development of AIDS-defining clinical symptoms. Active cognitive and behavioral coping was not related to the outcome measures.
Mulder
C L
CL
Helen Dowling Institute for Biopsychosocial Medicine, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. hdi@hdi.nl
de Vroome
E M
EM
van Griensven
G J
GJ
Antoni
M H
MH
Sandfort
T G
TG
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D003717:Denial, Psychological; D018450:Disease Progression; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000523:psychology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012803:Sick Role