SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF HIV-INFECTED WOMEN AND GAY MEN

In this paper, we examine social and psychological characteristics of 60 HIV+ women and gay men, matched on age and stage of HIV infection. A discriminant function analysis was performed using measures of life adversity, psychological distress, an psychosocial resources. The best combination of predictors for distinguishing between HIV+ women and g ay men was comprised of satisfaction with emotional support, network s ize, use of avoidant coping, Hamilton depression, and loneliness score s [Chi(2)(7)=14.8, p<.05]. Women reported more satisfaction with emoti onal support, although gay men had larger social networks. Gay men use d more avoidant coping and had higher loneliness scores as compared to women, although women reported more depressive symptoms. Utilizing th is set of psychosocial variables, we correctly classified 73% of the H IV+ women and 67% of the HIV+ men. These findings suggest the importan ce of considering subgroup differences in the design of counseling pro grams for HIV+ individuals.