Teresa E. Woods

The ironson-woods spirituality/religiousness index is associated with long survival, health behaviors, less distress, and low cortisol in people with HIV/AIDS

The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of an instrument that measures both spirituality and religiousness, to examine the relation between spirituality and religiousness and important health outcomes for people living with HIV, and to examine the potential mediators of these relations. One aim was to determine whether subscales of spirituality, religiousness, or both would be independently related to long survival in people living with AIDS. The Ironson-Woods Spirituality/Religiousness (SR) Index is presented with evidence for its reliability and validity. Four factors were identified on the Ironson-Woods SR Index (Sense of Peace, Faith in God, Religious Behavior, and Compassionate View of Others). Each subscale was significantly related to long survival with AIDS. That is, the long-term survivor (LTS) group (n = 79) scored significantly higher on these factors than did the HIV-positive comparison (COMP) group (n = 200). Long survival was also significantly related to both frequency of prayer (positively) and judgmental attitude (negatively). In addition, the Ironson-Woods SR Index yielded strong and significant correlations with less distress, more hope, social support, health behaviors, helping others, and lower cortisol levels. The relation between religious behavior and health outcomes was not due to social support. Further analyses were conducted, which identified urinary cortisol concentrations and altruistic behavior as mediators of the relation between SR and long survival.

Self-System Therapy as an Intervention for Self-Regulatory Dysfunction in Depression: A Randomized Comparison with Cognitive Therapy.

Self-system therapy (SST) is a new therapy based on regulatory focus theory (E. T. Higgins, 1997) for depressed individuals unable to pursue promotion goals effectively. The authors conducted a randomized trial comparing SST with cognitive therapy (CT) in a sample of 45 patients with a range of depressive symptoms to test 2 hypotheses: that SST would be more efficacious for depressed individuals characterized by inadequate socialization toward pursuing promotion goals and that SST would lead to greater reduction in dysphoric responses to priming of promotion goals. There was no overall difference in efficacy between treatments, but patients whose socialization history lacked an emphasis on promotion goals showed significantly greater improvement with SST. In addition, SST patients showed a greater reduction in dysphoric responses to promotion goal priming than did CT patients. The results illustrate the value of a theory-based translational approach to treatment design and selection.

Religiosity is Associated with Affective Status in Symptomatic HIV-infected African-American Women.

This study examined the relationship between religiosity and the affective and immune status of 33 HIV-seropositive mildly symptomatic African-American women (CDC stage B) in a replication of a prior study that reported an association between religiosity and affective and immune status in HIV-seropositive gay men. All women completed an intake interview, a set of psychosocial questionnaires, and provided a venous blood sample. Consistent with prior work, factor analysis of 12 religious-oriented response items revealed two distinct aspects to religiosity: religious coping and religious behavior. Religious coping (e.g. placing trust in God, seeking comfort in religion) was significantly associated with lower depression and anxiety. Regression analyses revealed the association between religious coping and depressive symptoms appears to be mediated by an active coping style. However, the association between religious coping and anxiety does not appear to be mediated by either active coping or sense of self-efficacy in these women. In contrast to prior work, neither religious coping nor religious behavior was significantly associated with immune status as measured by T helper-inducer (CD41) cell counts.

Self-regulatory cognition and immune reactivity: idiographic success and failure feedback effects on the natural killer cell.

Inducing depressed and anxious individuals to write about their personal goals decreases natural killer (NK) cell activity, revealing a psychobiological pathway whereby experiences of failure can influence health (Strauman et al., 1993). However, it is unclear whether similar effects also occur in non-distressed individuals. This study used the same writing task to examine the acute physiological effects of presenting idiographic success and failure feedback by priming self-congruencies or self-discrepancies on three occasions (including a control condition). Blood samples were collected after each writing session to determine NK activity, and the number and type of lymphocytes in circulation were enumerated to help explain the cytolytic changes. The two self-relevant priming conditions were associated with significant alterations in immunity, and the high self-discrepant participants were more responsive. Both self-congruent (success) and self-discrepant (failure) priming induced significant shifts in mood, which partially mediated immune alterations but did not account for them completely. If repeated and sustained over time, incidental activation of self-discrepancies and self-congruencies could account for individual variation in immune responses.

The Role of Germs and Viruses in Children's Theories of AIDS (or, AIDS are Not Band-Aids)

The development of knowledge of germs and viruses in relation to AIDS and flu was examined in a predominantly Mexican American sample of children aged 8-9, 10-11, and 12-13. Children progressed with age from identifying the disease agent for these diseases as a nondescript germ or something other than a germ to implicating a disease-specific germ or virus. Parallel age trends in mastery of the two diseases were observed; gender and ethnic differences were minimal. Solid command of germ and virus concepts in relation to AIDS was associated with more causally sophisticated understanding of the disease but not with more accurate knowledge of modes of HIV transmission. Grasp of flu germ/virus concepts did not contribute to greater understanding or knowledge of AIDS. Overall, children seem predisposed to construct a germ theory of an unfamiliar disease such as AIDS but need help in differentiating between one germ and another.

Developmental differences in knowledge of drugs and AIDS

Abstract Children 5 to 18 years of age, some with exposure to the drug culture, were interviewed about the drugs that drug users take, methods of drug use, and mechanisms of HIV infection. Although young children were surprisingly familiar with cocaine, they has many misconceptions about which forms of drug use cause AIDS. Knowledge of street drugs increased with age, and boys knew more drug terms than girls. Experiential factors also influenced understanding: Members of a small sample of adolescent drug users were especially knowledgeable about drugs, and children of drug users in treatment were especially informed about drugs in relation to AIDS. However, more important than gender, ethnicity, parent education, and drug-related experience, was age, possibly because it is associated with both cognitive growth and the accumulation of information.