title: Coping and HIV infection in African-American women.
abstract: HIV is impacting African-American women at alarming rates. Many of these women are poor and socially disadvantaged, resulting in a combination of stressors that impacts the quality of their lives. This study investigated whether coping style (i.e., problem-focused, emotion-focused) varies as a function of HIV status or stage of HIV-related illness. Secondly, we examined whether the use of a particular style is associated with three areas of functioning among HIV-infected women: general psychological distress, depressive symptomatology, and physical symptomatology. Ninety-nine HIV-infected women and 143 noninfected women completed measures assessing coping styles and functioning. No significant differences emerged in coping styles between the HIV-infected and noninfected women or for the groups when symptomatic women were examined separate from asymptomatic women. Greater emotion-focused coping was associated with less general psychological distress and depression specifically. Problem-focused coping interacted with illness stage to predict all areas of functioning. By identifying effective coping strategies among African-American women with HIV, mental health professionals can design empirical interventions that can help improve quality of life for these women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta 30303, USA.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.forename: Libby
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tannenbaum
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Armistead
authors.forename: Shira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maguen
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000145:classification*; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008145:Louisiana / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population; D016387:Women's Health