LONGITUDINAL PSYCHIMMUNOLOGIC STUDY OF ARC PATIENTS

本研究的总体目标是：（1）了解 个人对心理，社会和身体压力的反应 患有获得性免疫缺陷综合征（艾滋病），或艾滋病相关 复杂（ARC）;以及（2）这些反应如何反过来影响随后的 医学状态/结果，并与免疫功能相关。 第一个目标将通过继续跟踪75个样本来实现。 艾滋病患者和150名ARC患者， 通过授予这是一个更新的应用程序，“纵向 艾滋病患者的社会心理研究“同样的心理社会访谈 为初步研究制定的方案和自我报告包将 给药，将3、6和12个月随访延长至18、24和30个月 月随访。 将添加与受试者相关的问题 对新治疗和测试的理解和态度（例如，为 HTLV-III）。 第二个目标是系统地关注心理免疫学 在一个新的样本100人与ARC的关系，有待研究 前瞻性地，每6个月，在2-3年的时间内。 心理社会 从最初的研究措施将减少到那些发现在 与免疫状态和/或进展相关的文献 其他免疫介导的疾病。 免疫学、社会心理学和 医疗状态/结果变量将被合并到一个数据集中。 该研究的纵向视角将允许调查这种 问题：（1）具体的社会心理变量如何与 免疫功能的具体方面，（2）是否某些心理社会 变量与ARC患者的艾滋病发展相关， 以及这些变量是否与免疫指标有关， 随后的医疗状况/结果，（3）心理社会变量是否可能 歧视患有ARC的人的亚群体，例如，有或没有 实验室体征存在时的ARC症状，以及（4）是否 社会心理变量可以区分HTLV-III患者 无症状“携带者”体内没有病毒时产生抗体。"

The overall objectives of the proposed research are (1) to understand how individuals respond to the psychological, social, and physical stresses of having the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), or AIDS-related complex (ARC); and (2) how these responses may, in turn, affect subsequent medical status/outcome and be related to immunologic functioning. The first aim will be accomplished by continuing to follow a sample of 75 persons with AIDS and 150 persons with ARC who were initially studied through the grant for which this is a renewal application, "A Longitudinal Psychosocial Study of AIDS Patients." The same psychosocial interview protocol and self-report package developed for the initial study will be administered, extending the 3, 6, and 12 month follow-ups to 18, 24, and 30 month follow-ups. Questions will be added relative to subjects' understanding of and attitudes toward new treatments and tests (e.g., for HTLV-III). The second aim is to focus systematically on psychoimmunologic relationships in a new sample of 100 persons with ARC, to be studied prospectively, every 6 months, over a 2-3 year period. Psychosocial measures from the initial study will be reduced to those found in the literature to be related to immunologic status and/or to progression of other immunologically-mediated diseases. Immunologic, psychosocial, and medical status/outcome variables will be combined into a single data set. The study's longitudinal perspective will allow the investigation of such questions as (1) how specific psychosocial variables may be related to specific aspects of immune function, (2) whether certain psychosocial variables are associated with the development of AIDS in persons with ARC, and whether these variables are related to immune measures that predict subsequent medical status/outcome, (3) whether psychosocial variables may discriminate sub-groups of persons with ARC, e.g., those with or without ARC symptoms in the presence of laboratory signs, and (4) whether psychosocial variables may differentiate subjects who have HTLV-III antibody in the absence of virus from asymptomatic "carriers."