Disease status in African American single mothers with HIV: The role of depressive symptoms

The association between depressive symptoms and 2 measures of HIV disease s tatus in 73 African American single mothers was examined. Hierarchical mult iple regression analyses revealed that clinician-rated depressive symptoms predicted subjective, but not objective, parameters of disease status 12 to 14 months later. More symptoms of depression at the Ist assessment predict ed an increase in physical complaints over the course of the study. Results suggest that researchers and clinicians interested in enhancing quality of life among African American single mothers with HIV infection, an understu died population within the HIV-AIDS literature, should consider both subjec tive and objective measures of the disease.