Recorded presentation

Karolynn Siegel, PhD, Sociomedical Sciences/ Center for the Psychosocial Study of Health and Illness, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 100 Haven Avenue, Suite 6A, New York, NY 10032 and Eric W. Schrimshaw, MA (PhD cand), Center for the Psychosocial Study of Health & Illness, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 100 Haven Avenue, Suite 6A, New York, NY 10032, 212-304-6489, es458@columbia.edu.

Background. It has been widely suggested that highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has resulted in improved physical health, greater perceptions of control over health, perceptions that HIV/AIDS is less threatening, and reduced the need for avoidant coping strategies. Method. A sample of 79 women living with HIV/AIDS in the pre-HAART era (1994-96) were compared to a demographically matched sample of 79 women from the HAART era (2000-03) on measures of stress, health appraisal, and coping strategies. Results. Contrary to expectations, HIV-infected women in the HAART era were significantly more likely than women in the pre-HAART era to report stress due to their physical health (37% vs. 19%, Chi-square = 6.17, p < .01), to report stress from stigmatization and disclosure fears (25% vs. 6%, Chi-square = 10.69, p < .01), to view HIV as having caused them harm (52% vs. 30%, Chi-square = 7.84, p < .05), to report greater perceptions that their health is due to chance (M = 3.38 vs. 2.93, F = 3.26, p = .06), and to report more use of maladaptive forms of coping (e.g., escape-avoidant coping, M = 1.23 vs. 0.97, F = 7.10, p < .05). Conclusion. Although HAART has extended survival for many HIV-infected individuals, it has not resulted in concomitant psychosocial improvements. Indeed, the data reveal that women in the HAART era experienced more stress, less control, and were coping more poorly than women in the pre-HAART era. Thus, further efforts are needed to prevent or address the continued psychosocial difficulties HIV-infected women in the HAART era continue to experience.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the widespread assumptions regarding the psychosocial benefits of HAART for individuals living with HIV/AIDS.
• Report how the stressors, health appraisals, and coping strategies differ between women living with HIV/AIDS in the HAART era compared to women in the pre-HAART era.
• Suggest potential reasons for why HIV-infected women in the HAART era report more stress, less control appraisals, and poorer coping than women in the pre-HAART era.
• Justify the need for interventions to address the continued psychosocial difficulties experienced by women living with HIV/AIDS in the HAART era.

Keywords: Coping, Women and HIV/AIDS

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation