The Examination of Emotion Dysregulation as a Moderator of Depression and HIV-Relevant Outcome Relations Among an HIV+Sample

Abstract

The present study examined whether emotion dysregulation moderated the relations between depressive symptoms and HIV symptoms, HIV medication adherence due to medication side effects, avoidant coping, and distress tolerance among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA). Participants included 115 PLHA (16.8% female; Mage = 49.70, SD = 8.57). Results indicated that there was a significant interaction between depressive symptoms and emotion dysregulation in relation to HIV symptoms, HIV medication adherence due to medication side effects, avoidant coping, and distress tolerance. The form of the interaction indicated that PLHA experiencing higher depressive symptoms and higher levels of emotion dysregulation reported the highest levels of HIV symptoms and lowest levels of distress tolerance. Additionally, results indicated that at lower levels of depressive symptoms, very high levels of emotion dysregulation predicted higher rates of medication nonadherence, whereas at higher levels of depressive symptoms, very high levels of emotion dysregulation predicted the lowest rates of medication nonadherence. Moreover, those experiencing lower levels of depressive symptoms and higher levels of emotion dysregulation reported the greatest rates of avoidant coping. In total, the present results suggest a complex interplay between emotion dysregulation and depressive symptoms with regard to HIV symptoms, medication nonadherence, and self-regulatory processes (e.g., avoidant coping, distress tolerance) among PLHA.