Coping and cognitive processing style in HIV-positive subjects.
BACKGROUND
People's reactions to traumatic events are mediated by their subjective style of coping. This is of particular importance for HIV+ patients, mainly in the first phases of the disease. This work aimed at examining whether an 'acceptance' style of coping, as opposed to a 'mental disengagement' style, selectively influences the first stages of the processing of neutral, emotional and HIV-related information.


METHODS
Two groups of 11 HIV+ asymptomatic subjects were chosen according to their coping strategies, acceptance or mental disengagement, as measured by Coping Orientations to the Problems Experienced (COPE). Twenty-two patients completed the Emotional Stroop Task and an incidental memory recognition task containing neutral, emotional and HIV-related stimuli.


RESULTS
Analysis of reaction times (RTs) on the Emotional Stroop Task showed that HIV+ subjects have longer RTs for emotional and HIV-related than for neutral words. Instead, no effect was found as regards interaction with style of coping.


CONCLUSIONS
Results confirmed a processing bias of emotional information, whereas Acceptance and Mental disengagement strategies, as measured by the COPE scales, did not appear to influence information processing.
Novara
C
C
Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Italy. cnovara@ux1.unipd.it
Casari
S
S
Compostella
S
S
Dorz
S
S
Sanavio
E
E
Sica
C
C
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008606:Mental Processes; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011930:Reaction Time