Relationships Over 1 Year Between Lymphocyte Subsets and Psychosocial Variables Among Adults With Infection by Human Immunodeficiency Virus

It is concluded that among the authors' sample, physical symptoms contributed to emotional distress, but emotional distress did not contribute to the CD4 cell count, a marker of disease progression.

Abstract

To examine relationships between immune and psychosocial variables among adults infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1, 221 subjects without acquired immunodeficiency syndrome were assessed for degree of depression, anxiety, psychiatric symptoms, social support, stressful life events, hardiness, hopelessness, bereavement, and intrusive and avoidant thoughts about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. At entry, none of 22 psychosocial variables significantly correlated with lymphocyte subsets. Among subjects seen 6 and 12 months later, severity of physical symptoms was associated with greater emotional distress, but the CD4 cell count was predicted by neither clinical ratings of psychopathology and global functioning nor by standardized self-report measures of constructs used in psychoimmune research. We conclude that among our sample, physical symptoms contributed to emotional distress, but emotional distress did not contribute to the CD4 cell count, a marker of disease progression.