| Publication Abstract Display | | Type: Published Abstract | | Title: Type of social support predicting depression varies according to stage of HIV disease: a prospective study. | | Authors: Straits-Tr, Patterson TL, Semple SJ, Temoshok L, Atkinson JH, Chandler J, Grant I, and the HNRC Group | | Year: 1994 | | Publication: Annals of Behavioral Medicine | | Volume: 16 Issue: S Pages: S185 | | Abstract:Predictors of depression among people infected with HIV may differ according to stage of HIV disease. A cohort of 249 HIV+ men (209 asymptomatic, 40 AIDS-symptomatic) were assessed with two consecutive six-month timepoints. Measures of HIV-independent stress, loneliness, and depressed mood were obtained at baseline and six-month followup, and social support was assessed at baseline only.
Hierarchical multiple regression predicting depressed mood at followup among HIV+ asymptomatic men revealed that depression at baseline accounted for 22% of the variance, and chronic loneliness (scores > 1 SD above mean at both timepoints) accounted for another 5% of the variance. Satisfaction with informational support, emotional support, HIV-independent stress, and the interaction of stress and emotional support were not significant. Among AIDS-symptomatic men (N=40), depressed mood at followup were regressed on baseline depression, loneliness chronicity and informational support (the two psychological variables with the highest first-order correlations with outcome, in order to preserve power). Again, baseline depressed mood accounted for a significant portion of the variance (27%), but only satisfaction with informational support was a significant psychosocial predictor of subsequent depression for men with AIDS, accounting for an additional 10% of the variance prospectively.
These results suggest that different psychosocial interventions to improve quality of life are likely to be appropriate at different stages of HIV disease. Specifically, addressing social isolation or chronic loneliness may be particularly important in early HIV disease, and provision of good informational support may be crucial for AIDS patients. |
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