Coping and cognitive processing style in HIV-positive subjects

Background: People's reactions to traumatic events are mediated by their su bjective style of coping. This is of particular importance for HIV+ patient s, mainly in the first phases of the disease, This work aimed at examining whether an 'acceptance' style of coping, as opposed to a 'mental disengagem ent' style, selectively influences the first stages of the processing of ne utral, emotional and HIV-related information. Method: Two groups of 11 HIV asymptomatic subjects were chosen according to their coping strategies, ac ceptance or menta I disengagement, as measured by Coping Orientations to th e Problems Experienced (COPE). Twenty-two patients completed the Emotional Stroop Task and an incidental memory recognition task containing neutral, e motional and HIV-related stimuli. Results: Analysis of reaction times (RTs) on the Emotional Stroop Task showed that HIV+ subjects have longer RTs for emotional and HIV-related than for neutral words. Instead, no effect was f ound as regards interaction with style of coping. Conclusion: Results confi rmed a processing bias of emotional information, whereas Acceptance and Men tal disengagement strategies, as measured by the COPE scales, did not appea r to influence information processing. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Bas el.