Purpose in life and depressive symptoms in persons living with HIV disease.
OBJECTIVE
To examine relationships among purpose in life, HIV disease severity, demographic variables, and depressive symptoms in people living with HIV disease (PLWHIV). The hypothesis tested was that purpose in life is a stronger predictor of depressive symptoms than is HIV disease severity.


METHODS
Descriptive, correlational study using a convenience sample of 123 PLWHIV recruited from an urban infectious disease clinic in a university teaching hospital in the Southeast United States.


METHODS
A self-administered questionnaire, including a sociodemographic tool, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and the Purpose in Life Scale (PIL), was used to collect data. Concurrent severity of HIV disease measures included HIV RNA viral load, CD4+ T-lymphocyte count, and the Revised HIV Medical Symptom Scale. Analytical methods included descriptive and inferential statistics and hierarchical regression analysis.


RESULTS
Depressive symptoms were greater and purpose in life was lower than in normative samples. Purpose in life was a stronger predictor of depressive symptoms than was HIV disease severity.


CONCLUSIONS
Purpose in life was more important than were laboratory markers of disease progression for predicting depressive co-morbidity. Results from this study indicate the need for routine assessment of depressive symptoms in PLWHIV. Purpose in life should be explored as a potential buffer for depressive symptoms.
Lyon
D E
DE
University of Virginia School of Nursing, PO Box 800782, McLeod Hall, Charlottesville, VA 22908-0782, USA. del2a@virginia.edu
Younger
J B
JB
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009013:Morale; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015144:Southeastern United States; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D019562:Viral Load