Adjustment among People who have Experienced Aids-Related Multiple Loss: The Role of Unsupportive Social Interactions, Social Support, and Coping

Abstract

This study examined psychosocial factors that might explain individual differences in depression among people who have experienced AIDS-related multiple bereavement. We hypothesized that unsupportive responses received from others about the bereavement experience would be associated with increased depression. In a sample of 90 people who had lost two or more family members, lovers, spouses, or friends to AIDS-related death, bereavement-related unsupportive social interactions accounted for a significant amount of the variance in depression beyond the variance explained by the level of present grief. Moreover, unsupportive social interactions and positive social support made independent contributions to the level of depression, with unsupportive social interactions being significantly associated with increased depression and positive support being significantly related to decreased depression. Results also indicated that the level of bereavement-related unsupportive social interactions was positively associated with the use of avoidant coping, which, in turn, was associated with increased depression.