People's reactions to traumatic events are mediated by their subjective style of coping. This is of particular importance for HIV+ patients, mainly in the first phases of the disease, This work aimed at examining whether an 'acceptance' style of coping, as opposed to a 'mental disengagement' style, selectively influences the first stages of the processing of neutral, emotional and HIV-related information. Method: Two groups of 11 HIV+ asymptomatic subjects were chosen according to their coping strategies, acceptance or menta I disengagement, as measured by Coping Orientations to the Problems Experienced (COPE). Twenty-two patients completed the Emotional Stroop Task and an incidental memory recognition task containing neutral, emotional and HIV-related stimuli. Results: Analysis of reaction times (RTs) on the Emotional Stroop Task showed that HIV+ subjects have longer RTs for emotional and HIV-related than for neutral words. Instead, no effect was found as regards interaction with style of coping. Conclusion: Results confirmed a processing bias of emotional information, whereas Acceptance and Mental disengagement strategies, as measured by the COPE scales, did not appear to influence information processing.

Coping and cognitive processing style in HIV-positive subjects / NOVARA; CASARI; COMPOSTELLA; DORZ; SANAVIO; C. SICA. - In: PSYCHOTHERAPY AND PSYCHOSOMATICS. - ISSN 0033-3190. - STAMPA. - 69:(2000), pp. 316-321. [10.1159/000012414]

Coping and cognitive processing style in HIV-positive subjects

SICA, CLAUDIO
2000

Abstract

People's reactions to traumatic events are mediated by their subjective style of coping. This is of particular importance for HIV+ patients, mainly in the first phases of the disease, This work aimed at examining whether an 'acceptance' style of coping, as opposed to a 'mental disengagement' style, selectively influences the first stages of the processing of neutral, emotional and HIV-related information. Method: Two groups of 11 HIV+ asymptomatic subjects were chosen according to their coping strategies, acceptance or menta I disengagement, as measured by Coping Orientations to the Problems Experienced (COPE). Twenty-two patients completed the Emotional Stroop Task and an incidental memory recognition task containing neutral, emotional and HIV-related stimuli. Results: Analysis of reaction times (RTs) on the Emotional Stroop Task showed that HIV+ subjects have longer RTs for emotional and HIV-related than for neutral words. Instead, no effect was found as regards interaction with style of coping. Conclusion: Results confirmed a processing bias of emotional information, whereas Acceptance and Mental disengagement strategies, as measured by the COPE scales, did not appear to influence information processing.
2000
69
316
321
NOVARA; CASARI; COMPOSTELLA; DORZ; SANAVIO; C. SICA
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Utilizza questo identificatore per citare o creare un link a questa risorsa: https://hdl.handle.net/2158/222446
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