Social Support, Positive States of Mind, and HIV Treatment Adherence in Men and Women Living With HIV/AIDS.

Abstract

Numerous studies have linked social support to better medication adherence among illness groups, but few have examined potential mechanisms for this relationship. Relationships were examined between social support, depression, positive states of mind (PSOM), and medication adherence among HIV positive men who have sex with men (n = 61) and women (n = 29) on highly active antiretroviral therapy. Depression and PSOM were evaluated as potential mediators of the relationship between support and adherence. Cross-sectional data showed that greater social support and PSOM related to better adherence whereas higher depression scores related to nonadherence. PSOM partially mediated the relationship between social support and adherence. PSOM may be an important mechanism through which social support is related to better medication adherence in this population.

Adherence to Antiretroviral Medication Regimens: A Test of a Psychosocial Model

“…Self efficacy and depression were directly related to adherence, and self-efficacy was found to have a weak indirect relationship to adherence through its association with depression. These relationships lend further support to previous studies that have investigated both the role of self-efficacy and depression on medication adherence (Catz et al 2000;Gonzalez et al 2004;Kleeberger et al 2004). Moreover, the results provide support for self-efficacy theory.…”

“…The latter proposition is supported by empirical evidence showing a relationship between self-efficacy and depression (Arnstein et al 1999;DiIorio et al 2004;Ong and Walsh 2001). Moreover, several investigators have found that higher levels of depression correspond to lower levels of ART adherence (Ammassari et al 2004;Gonzalez et al 2004;Kleeberger et al 2004). …”

Hospital Discharge Instructions: Comprehension and Compliance Among Older Adults

“…29 Social isolation was strongly associated with noncomprehension of the exercise instructions in this study, adding to prior reports of social isolation as a predictor of non-compliance. [30][31][32] Cognition and high school education were not associated with non-comprehension in any domain of the discharge instructions, although health literacy has been previously identified as a barrier to comprehension. 1,2,6,8 Factors associated with non-comprehension may help identify patients at greater risk, but do not provide a rationale for non-comprehension.…”

Research on psychoneuroimmunology: tai chi as a stress management approach for individuals with HIV disease

“…In addition to enhancing coping skills, stress management interventions also may reduce stress levels and enhance psychosocial functioning by modifying stressor appraisals (perceptions; Astin, 1997), supporting the creation of meaning (Folkman, 1997), enhancing spirituality (Ironson et al, 2002), and fostering inner strength, an aspect of spirituality defined as relating to one's personal resources and a sense of the sacred (Roux, Bush, & Dingley, 2001). In addition, there is recent evidence that adherence to HIV treatment, a critical factor in disease management, is influenced by social support and a positive state of mind (Gonzalez et al, 2004). Tai chi may be useful in a PNI paradigm as a stress management strategy for enhancing psychosocial function and, ultimately, neuroendocrine-immune function and disease progression.…”