Abstract
M.A. (Psychology)
The present study was undertaken in an attempt to understand and ascertain the
nature and influence of psychological variables on the longevity of people who are
infected withHN.
The specific postulate of this study was that depression is the most important
psychological variable that influences the longevity of people with my, either
directly or indirectly. A number of variables were hypothesized to playa
concomitant role with depression as factors that mediate longevity in people with
my. These factors include learned helplessness, self-efficacy, sickness impact,
sexual risk behaviors and substance use.
The testing of these hypotheses involved an experimental group consisting ofHN
positive, gay men who suffered from depression and a control group that consisted
ofmv positive gay men who did not suffer from depression. None of the subjects
had previously been diagnosed with depression.
The subjects were subjected to testing of the mentioned psychological variables by
means of the Hamilton-Depression Scale, the Attributional Style Questionnaire, the
Coping Self-Efficacy Scale, the Biweekly Record of Sexual Behavior, the
Substance Use Behavior Questionnaire and the Sickness Impact Profile.
It was found that the experimental group differed significantly from the control
group in terms of self-efficacy, sexual risk behavior, substance use and sickness
impact. It has been speculated that the lack of significant difference between the
experimental and control groups on learned helplessness could imply that equal
amounts of learned helplessness was present in both groups.