A theoretical and empirical contribution to the study of the psychological factors that may predict faster HIV progression within a psychoimmunology and health psychology prospective

This thesis is devoted to the study of psychological factors associated with HIV infection. It consists in three theoretical chapters and eight empirical studies. The first chapter illustrates the basis of psychoimmunology and the evidence about the connection between psychosocial factors and the immune system functioning. The second is a general introduction to HIV/AIDS illness and its physiopsychological consequences. The third is devoted to the discussion of psychosocial factors associated HIV progression; the physiological and behavioral pathways that may mediate the associations between psychological factors and HIV progression have been illustrated. The fourth chapter consists in eight studies that we have conducted. The first one consists in a comparison between HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals with respect to depression rates and symptomatology, together with the effect of romantic relationship on depression. The second study explores HIV-positive patients’ illness perceptions and the strategies of coping. The third study is devoted to the investigation of emotions (implicit and explicit) and alexithymia. Such constructs have been then tested in relation with HIV-progression biomarkers. The fourth study investigates the personality types and their psychological correlates (e.g., emotions and coping strategies). In the fifth study, the concept of minority stress has been investigated in a sample of gay and bisexual men. In the sixth study, we tested the relationship of minority stress concept to HIV progression biomarkers, in two samples of HIV positive gay and bisexual men. The seventh study is dedicated to the study of HIV adherence self-efficacy and its relationship with compliance and HIV progression. The eighth study is devoted to the investigation of psychological and physiological correlates of perceived stress in HIV-positive individuals. In this study, we investigated the connection between the activation of immune system and depression, and how perceived stress might influence physical health of patients. Furthermore, patients’ psychological characteristics that might exert a protective effect against perceived stress and depression have been also evaluated.