Psychological effects of a life review intervention for persons with HIV disease

Susan M. Vaughan, Richard T. Kinnier

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a life review intervention for persons with HIV disease. Twenty-seven adults with HIV disease (16 had been diagnosed with AIDS) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: a group life review intervention (n = 8), a traditional support group (n = 9), or a waiting list (n = 10). Using a pre-post design, participants were compared on psychological measures of optimism, self-esteem, purpose in life, coping ability, psychological distress, and death anxiety. Although analyses revealed no significant differences between the interventions, statistical trends and participants' written evaluations favored the life review intervention. Attrition was a significant problem. Discussion focuses on the special problems encountered in conducting psychological intervention research with an HIV-positive population.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)115-123
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Counseling and Development
Volume75
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1996
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Applied Psychology

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