Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Social Support and Mood in Gay Caregivers of Men with AIDS

  • Published:
AIDS and Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The objectives of the study were to compare different aspects of social support between caregiving partners of men with AIDS and partners of healthy men and to examine the association of social support with positive and negative mood. Data were collected in a longitudinal study of 244 gay male caregivers and 61 comparison gay male noncaregivers. Measures included perceived positive support; social conflict; sought support; amount, types, and sources of received support; relationships with family; and positive and negative mood. Cross-sectional analyses and changes between baseline and 2 years were examined. No significant differences were found between the caregivers and noncaregivers in most aspects of social support. Regression analyses showed (a) caregiver status was associated with positive and negative mood (caregivers reported lower positive mood and higher negative mood) at baseline, but not at 2 years; (b) perceived support was the only variable significantly associated with positive mood at baseline and at 2 years; and (c) social conflict (at both times) and perceived support, amount of received support, and having a family confidant (at one of the time periods) were associated with negative mood. The findings support the importance of distinguishing between perceptual and behavioral aspects of social support and their relation to both positive and negative mood.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Antonovsky, A. (1987). Unraveling the mystery of health: How people manage stress and stay well. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradburn, N. M. (1969). The structure of psychological well being. Chicago: Aldine.

  • Britton, P. J., Zarski, J. J., and Hobfoll, S. E. (1993). Psychological distress and the role of significant others in a population of gay-bisexual men in the era of AIDS. AIDS Care, 5, 43–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Catania, J. A., Turner, H. A., Choi, K.-H., and Coates, T. J. (1992). Coping with death anxiety: Help seeking and social support among gay men with various HIV diagnoses. AIDS, 6, 999–1005.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, S., and Wills, T. A. (1985). Social support, stress and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 16, 310–357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunkel-Schetter, C., and Bennet, T. L. (1990). Differentiating the cognitive and behavioral aspects of social support. In B. R. Sarason, I. G. Sarason, and G. R. Pierce (Eds.), Social support: An interactional view(pp. 267–296). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunkel-Schetter, C., Folkman, S., and Lazarus, R. S. (1987). Corre-lates of social support receipt. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 71–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folkman, S. (1997). Positive psychological states and coping with severe stress. Social Science and Medicine, 45, 1207–1221.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folkman, S., Chesney, M. A., Collette, L., Boccellari, A., and Cooke, M. (1996). Postbereavement depressive mood and its prebereavement predictors in HIV+ and HIV+ gay men. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 336–348.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folkman, S., Chesney, M. A., McKusick, L., Ironson, G., Johnson, D. S., and Coates, T. J. (1991). Translating coping theory into an intervention. In J. Eckenrode (Ed.), The social context of coping(pp. 239–260). New York: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folkman, S., and Lazarus, R. S. (1988). Ways of Coping question-naire. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fudge, H., Neufeld, A., and Harrison, M. J. (1997). Social networks of women caregivers. Public Health Nursing, 14, 20–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fukunishi, I., Hosaka, T., Negishi, M., Moriya, H., Hayashi, M., and Matsumoto, T. (1997). Avoidance coping behaviors and low social support are related to depressive symptoms in HIV-positive patients in Japan. Psychosomatics, 38, 113–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gant, L. M., and Ostrow, D. G. (1995). Perceptions of social support and psychological adaptation to sexually acquired HIV among White and African American men. Social Work, 40, 215–224.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, G. (1993). Social support and HIV. AIDS Care, 5, 87–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hays, R. B., Chauncey, S., and Tobey, L. A. (1990). The social support networks of gay men with AIDS. Journal of Commu-nity Psychology, 18, 374–385.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holahan, C. J., and Moos, R. H. (1990). Life stressors, resistance factors, and improved psychological functioning: An exten-sion of the stress resistance paradigm. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 909–917.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holahan, C. J., and Moos, R. H. (1991). Life stressors, personal and social resources, and depression: A 4-year structural model. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100, 31–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holahan, C. J., Moos, R. H., Holahan, C. K., and Brennan, P. L. (1997). Social context, coping strategies, and depressive symptoms: An expanded model with cardiac patients. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 918–928.

    Google Scholar 

  • House, J. S., Landis, K. R., and Umberson, D. (1988). Social relationships and health. Science, 241, 540–545.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, J. A., Murphy, D. A., Bahr, G. R., and Koob, J. J. (1993). Factors associated with severity of depression and high-risk sexual behavior among persons with human immunodeficie-ncy virus (HIV) infections. Health Psychology, 12, 215–295.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, R. C., and McLeod, J. D. (1985). Social support and mental health in community samples. In S. Cohen and S. L. Syme (Eds.), Social support and health(pp. 219–240). London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krause, N. (1997). Anticipated support, received support, and economic stress among older adults. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 52B, P284–P293.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazarus, R. S., and Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal and coping. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • LeBlanc, A. J., London, A. S., and Aneshensel, C. S. (1997). The physical costs of AIDS caregiving. Social Science and Medicine, 45, 915–923.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lepore, S. J. (1992). Social conflict, social support, and psychologi-cal distress: Evidence of cross-domain buffering effects. Jour-nal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 857–867.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu, L. (1997). Social support, reciprocity, and well-being. Journal of Social Psychology, 137, 618–628.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason, H. R. C., Marks, G., Simoni, J. M., and Ruiz, M. S. (1995). Culturally sanctioned secrets? Latino men's nondisclosure of HIV infection to family, friends, and lovers. Health Psychol-ogy, 14, 6–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moskowitz, J. T., Folkman, S., Collette, L., and Vittinghoff, E. (1996). Coping and mood during AIDS-related caregiving and bereavement. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 18, 49–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Brien, K., Wortman, C. B., Kessler, R. C., and Joseph, J. G. (1993). Social relationships of men at risk for AIDS. Social Science and Medicine, 36, 1161–1167.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pakenham, K. I. (1998). Specification of social support behaviors and network dimensions along the HIV continuum for gay men. Patient Education and Counseling, 43, 147–157.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearlin, L. I., Mullan, J. T., Aneshensel, C. S., Wardlaw, L., and Harrington, C. (1994). The structure and functions of AIDS caregiving relationships. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 17, 51–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Remien, R. H., Rabkin, J. G., and Williams, J. B. W. (1992). Coping strategies and health beliefs of AIDS long-term survivors. Psychology and Health, 6, 335–345.

    Google Scholar 

  • Revenson, T. A., Schiaffino, K., Majerovitz, S. D., and Gibofsky, A. (1991). Social support as a double-edged sword: The rela-tion of positive and problematic support to depression among rheumatoid arthritis patients. Social Science and Medicine, 33, 807–813.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schuster, T. L., Kessler, R. C., and Aseltine, R. H. J. (1990). Supportive interactions, negative interactions, and depressed mood. American Journal of Community Psychology, 18, 423–438.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwarzer, R., and Leppin, A. (1991). Social support and health: A theoretical and empirical overview. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 8, 99–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegel, K., Raveis, V. H., and Karus, D. (1994). Psychological well-being of gay men with AIDS: Contribution of positive and negative illness-related network interactions to depressive mood. Social Science and Medicine, 39, 1555–1563.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegel, K., Raveis, V. H., and Karus, D. (1997). Illness-related support and negative network interactions: Effects on HIV+ infected men's depressive symptomatology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 25, 395–420.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thoits, P. A. (1986). Social support as coping assistance. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 416–423.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thoits, P. A. (1995). Stress, coping, and social support processes: Where are we? What next? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 36(Extra Issue), 53–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomaszewska, W., Peselow, E. D., Barouche, F., and Fieve, R. R. (1996). Antecedent life events, social supports and response to antidepressants in depressed patients. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavia, 94, 352–357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, H., and Catania, J. A. (1997). Informal caregiving to per-sons with AIDS in the United States: Caregiver burden among central cities residents eighteen to forty-nine years old. Ameri-can Journal of Community Psychology, 25, 35–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, H., Hays, R. B., and Coates, T. J. (1993). Determinants of social support among gay men: The context of AIDS. Jour-nal of Health and Social Behavior, 34, 37–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wardlaw, L. A. (1994). Sustaining informal caregivers for persons with AIDS. Families in Society, 75, 373–384.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wethington, E., and Kessler, R. C. (1986). Perceived support, received support, and adjustment to stressful life events. Jour-nal of Health and Social Behavior, 27, 78–89.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Medicine, Hadassah Medical Center and the Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health, Jerusalem, Israel

    Varda Soskolne

  2. Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California, San Francisco, California

    Michael Acree & Susan Folkman

Authors
  1. Varda Soskolne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michael Acree
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Susan Folkman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Soskolne, V., Acree, M. & Folkman, S. Social Support and Mood in Gay Caregivers of Men with AIDS. AIDS Behav 4, 221–232 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009572816986

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009572816986

Search

Navigation