COPING RESPONSES TO HIV-1 SEROSTATUS NOTIFICATION PREDICT CONCURRENT AND PROSPECTIVE IMMUNOLOGICAL STATUS

We prospectively related coping strategies and immunologic measures in HIV-1 seropositive and seronegative gay men over the 1-year period fo llowing notification of their antibody test results. First, we related 18 asymptomatic HIV-1 seropositive men's coping responses to antibody status notification with concurrently measured phenotypic and functio nal immunologic markers. Repeated-measures ANOVAs indicated that serop ositive subjects scoring above the median on postnotification disengag ement coping strategies (denial, behavioural disengagement, mental dis engagement) had significantly lower concurrently measured T-helper/sup pressor (CD4/CD8) cell ratios, T-inducer subset (CD4+CD45RA+) percenta ge values, and proliferative responses to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) tha n subjects scoring below the median on these scales. Disengagement cop ing responses also predicted 1-year follow-up immune markers; greater disengagement predicted poorer lymphocyte responsivity to PHA. Thirty sociodemographically-equivalent HIV-1 seronegative gay men showed the opposite pattern such that greater disengagement coping predicted sign ificantly greater lymphocyte responsivity to PHA and larger CD4+CD45RA + percentage values at 1-year follow-up. Together these preliminary fi ndings suggested that: (a) coping strategies relate to immunologic sta tus differentially for infected and non-infected risk group members; ( b) strategies that distract seropositive individuals from the stress o f infectivity are related to more impairment on some immunologic marke rs; and (c) these relationships occur concurrently and some appear to persist over as long as a 12-month period.