title: Spiritual striving, acceptance coping, and depressive symptoms among adults living with HIV/AIDS.
abstract: We prospectively examined the effects of spiritual striving, social support, and acceptance coping on changes in depressive symptoms among adults living with HIV/AIDS. Participants were 180 culturally diverse adults with HIV/AIDS. Participants completed measures of spiritual striving, social support, coping styles, and depressive symptoms at baseline, three-month follow-up, and six-month follow-up. A path model showed that spiritual striving had direct and indirect inverse effects on changes in depressive symptoms. The relationship between spiritual striving and depressive symptoms was partially mediated by acceptance coping, but not by social support. Results suggest that people living with HIV/AIDS who strive for spiritual growth in the context of their illness experience less negative affect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA 02125-3393, USA. john.perez@umb.edu
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.forename: Maggie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chartier
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Koopman
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vosvick
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gore-Felton
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Spiegel
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D029181:Spirituality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires