Challenges in addressing depression in HIV research: assessment, cultural context, and methods.
Depression is one of the most common co-morbidities of HIV infection. It negatively impacts self-care, quality of life, and biomedical outcomes among people living with HIV (PLWH) and may interfere with their ability to benefit from health promotion interventions. State-of-the-science research among PLWH, therefore, must address depression. To guide researchers, we describe the main diagnostic, screening, and symptom-rating measures of depression, offering suggestions for selecting the most appropriate instrument. We also address cultural considerations in the assessment of depression among PLWH, emphasizing the need to consider measurement equivalence and offering strategies for developing measures that are valid cross-culturally. Finally, acknowledging the high prevalence of depression among PLWH, we provide guidance to researchers on incorporating depression into the theoretical framework of their studies and employing procedures that account for participants with depression.
Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1525, USA. jsimoni@uw.edu
Jane M
JM
Simoni
Steven A
SA
Safren
Lisa E
LE
Manhart
Karen
K
Lyda
Cynthia I
CI
Grossman
Deepa
D
Rao
Matthew J
MJ
Mimiaga
Frank Y
FY
Wong
Sheryl L
SL
Catz
Michael B
MB
Blank
Ralph
R
DiClemente
Ira B
IB
Wilson
D003469:Culture; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation