Partner Support, Willingness to Sacrifice, and HIV Medication Self-Efficacy

Psychosocial Resources and Emotions in Women Living With HIV Who Have Cognitive Impairment: Applying the Socio-Emotional Adaptation Theory

Decreased cognitive function is related to undesirable psychological outcomes such as greater emotional distress and lower quality of life, particularly among women living with HIV who experience cognitive impairment (WLWH-CI). Yet, few studies have examined the psychosocial resources that may attenuate these negative emotional outcomes. The current study sought to identify the interrelated contributions of social relationships and psychological resources in 399 WLWH-CI by applying Socio-Emotional Adaptation (SEA) theory using data from the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS). Cognitive impairment (CI) was defined as impairment on two or more cognitive domains. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds of experiencing specific emotions due to a combination of four psychosocial resources. Emotions (i.e., depression, apathy, fear, anger, and acceptance) were related to a combination of binary (positive/negative) psychosocial resources including relationship with an informal support partner, relationship with a formal caregiver, coping, and perceived control. Understanding the conditions that may influence emotions in WLWH-CI is important for identifying and appropriately addressing the needs of this population. As CI increases, these individuals experience increasing challenges with articulating their care needs and having their needs met. As such, it becomes increasingly important to identify possible triggers for emotional responses to best address these underlying challenges.

The Experience of Growing Old While Living With HIV in Spain: A Phenomenological Study

HIV infection has transformed from a deadly disease into a chronic infection with low mortality. Using descriptive phenomenology, this study was designed to describe the lived experience of aging among persons living with HIV in Spain. Twenty-four participants ages 50 years or older were interviewed. Data were analyzed using Colaizzi's method. Aging with HIV made participants aware of the process of growing old, a stage of life they never expected to reach. They acknowledged the physical changes their bodies were undergoing, mostly due to the HIV and as a consequence of antiretroviral therapy. Most participants had financial problems and felt lonely. The participants highlighted how others had positively and negatively influenced their lives and, finally, how they learned to cope and then to accept living with HIV infection, be ready to help peers, and fight against discrimination. More research is needed to reduce loneliness, evaluate the impact of financial problems on health, and identify barriers and facilitators for adaptation, coping, and resilience in persons living with HIV ages 50 years or older.

The Effect of Partner Serostatus and Relationship Duration on HIV Medication Adherence

High adherence rates to antiretroviral medications are necessary for people living with HIV/AIDS. The current study focuses on relationship-level predictors of HIV medication adherence by testing whether adherence rates differ by dyadic serostatus (seroconcordant vs. serodiscordant couples) among individuals with HIV in romantic relationships. Results showed a significant interaction between dyadic serostatus and relationship duration on adherence, such that individuals in long-term serodiscordant relationships reported better adherence than short-term serodiscordant relationships or seroconcordant partners in long-term relationships. Future research is needed to understand what relationship dynamics explain differences in adherence rates based on dyadic serostatus.

Couple-Level Dynamics and Multilevel Challenges Among Black Men Who Have Sex with Men: A Framework of Dyadic HIV Care

The primary romantic relationship may offer critical opportunities for improving HIV care among key populations affected by high rates of HIV infection and low rates of care engagement, such as black men who have sex with men. A conceptual framework is needed to identify dyadic processes involved in addressing challenges in retention in care and adherence to antiretroviral therapy. This study conducted dyadic and individual-level qualitative analyses of individual interviews with men living with HIV from 14 black gay couples (n = 28). Interviews explored each partner's perspectives on challenges to and supportive strategies for retention in care and medication adherence. Findings highlighted challenges at various levels of care engagement and patterns of dyadic interactions that impeded or facilitated HIV care. Couple-level processes (i.e., couple's resilience, interdependence) underlined a joint problem-solving approach toward addressing challenges in care engagement. Findings support a conceptual framework of dyadic HIV care that highlights the impacts of dyadic and individual factors on coordination of care and treatment to influence retention and adherence. The generalizability of study findings is limited by the small sample size. Implications for intervention design include leveraging drivers of partner support, including couples' resilience, in enhancing joint problem-solving in HIV care among black gay couples.

Transactive-Goal-Dynamics Theory: A Discipline-Wide Perspective

Theories of goal pursuit typically conceptualize goal pursuers as isolated actors; in contrast, empirical research from diverse areas of psychology has demonstrated that goal setting, pursuit, and achievement are deeply embedded within social relationships. Because much of this emerging literature is developing within subfields with minimal cross talk, the potential for integration and advances to basic theory has not been realized. The present article leverages transactive-goal-dynamics theory in an effort to bring these literatures together. In doing so, it distills a common set of primary research questions toward the goal of promoting a cumulative, integrative, interdisciplinary field of research on the ways in which goal pursuit is socially embedded.