Stress, social support, and distress in a statewide population of persons with AIDS in New Jersey

This study examined the effects of stress, social support, and health status on distress in a sample of 79 persons with AIDS in New Jersey. The study used New Jersey’s AIDS Registry as a geographically based list sampling frame, with data gathered through in-person interviews. The study examined the effects of health status (operationalized as symptom burden), stress (operationalized with a stressful-life-events scale), social support from friends, and social support from family on depression as measured by the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale. We examined the differential effects of friend support and of family support at differing levels of stressful life events. Results indicate that health status and stressful life events both have substantial impact on distress. Friend support reduced distress under lower-stress conditions, while family support reduced distress under high-stress conditions. These results suggest that social support from peers is critical for emotional well-being of persons with HIV in many circumstances, but that in periods of crisis family support becomes a more important determinant of emotional well-being.