The primary objective of this proposal is to provide psychosocial inventories for investigation of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This overall project will be developed in two phases. In phase one, we will investigate the psychometric properties of the inventories we are selected, modified or designed to measure psychosocial constructs of interest. In phase two, we will administer the inventories to groups of 400-500 healthy male homosexuals in each of four large metropolitan areas and to samples of 30 clinic patients with persistent generalized lymphadenopathy (a possible precursor of AIDS). Data from the community samples will be used to further validate the psychosocial inventories and to estimate the response of these homosexual communities to the threat of AIDS. The expected benefits of this multi-center study include 1) development of inventories essential for the scientific study of social, psychological, and behavioral factors in the male homosexual population at risk for AIDS; 2) estimation of the impact of AIDS on the health and behavior of four metropolitan homosexual populations; 3) estimation of the relationship between particular individual responses to the threat of AIDS and mental health; 4) development of collaborative relationships between selected clinicians treating AIDS patients and an experienced psychosocial research team; 5) provision of pilot data for the longitudinal investigation of psychoneuroimmunologic relationships among those at high risk of AIDS.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 30 publications
