COPING WITH AIDS - A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY

The goals of this longitudinal, prospective study were to 1) examine c oping strategies of HIV-positive (HIV+) and HIV-negative (HIV-) inject ing drug users; 2) study the relationship of earlier social support to Inter coping in HIV+ men; and 3) examine the effects of earlier copin g strategies on later psychosocial function. The authors studied 287 m en given a structured questionnaire at two points in time. HIV+ subjec ts scored higher than HIV- subjects on measures of AIDS-related adapti ve coping (social support) and AIDS-related maladaptive coping (aggres sion), but not on general coping. General coping was not specifically AIDS-related, but was correlated positively with adaptive coping and n egatively with maladaptive coping. These results suggest that earlier general coping is related to the later avoidance of maladaptive coping , and they have specific implications for teaching preventive strategi es. AIDS-related adaptive or maladaptive coping techniques may be used simultaneously, and coping behavior may change over time. Earlier soc ial support is related positively to aspects of later coping in HIV+ m en.