Psychological adjustment of women with HIV/AIDS: Racial and ethnic comparisons

Abstract

The relationship of race and ethnicity with standardized measures of depressive symptomatology and mental health was examined in a sample of HIV-infected African American (n = 48), Puerto Rican (n = 50), and White non-Hispanic (n = 48) women in New York City. Mean scores of women from all three racial and ethnic groups were higher than those reported for normative samples on measures of depressive symptomatology and psychological distress, and mean scores on measures of psychological well-being were lower. Puerto Rican women reported significantly higher levels of depressive symptomatology than either African American or White women. Puerto Rican women also reported significantly higher levels of psychological distress and lower levels of psychological well-being than African American women. The findings suggest that while all HIV-infected women are at risk of poor adjustment, Puerto Rican women may be especially vulnerable. They also point to the need for future research to determine what factors in these women's lives are predictive of adjustment, especially those factors amenable to intervention. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.