The association of benefit finding to psychosocial and health behavior adaptation among HIV+ men and women

Title

The association of benefit finding to psychosocial and health behavior adaptation among HIV+ men and women

Creator

Littlewood RA; Vanable PA; Carey MP; Blair DC

Publisher

Journal Of Behavioral Medicine

Date

2007

Subject

Parent caregivers

Description

Psychological and behavioral adaptation to HIV is integral to long-term survival. Although most research on coping with HIV has focused on factors associated with poor adaptation, recent research has expanded to include positive concomitants of adaptation, such as benefit finding. This study examined the occurrence of benefit finding among HIV+ men and women and evaluated the potential relevance of benefit finding to positive health behavior and psychosocial adaptation. HIV+ participants (N = 221) recruited during outpatient care completed self-report assessments of benefit finding, social support, depression, HAART adherence, substance use, and physical activity. In a series of multivariate analyses that controlled for demographic and health status variables, benefit finding was associated with lower depression scores, greater social support, and more physical activity, but showed no association to HAART adherence or substance use. The association of benefit finding to depression was partially mediated by differences in social support. Thus, benefit finding may improve psychological adjustment by motivating patients who experience stress-related growth to seek social support.
2007

Rights

Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).

Type

Journal Article

Citation List Month

Backlog

Citation

Littlewood RA; Vanable PA; Carey MP; Blair DC, “The association of benefit finding to psychosocial and health behavior adaptation among HIV+ men and women,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed March 28, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/14431.