PSYCHONEUROIMMUNOLOGY AND HIV INFECTION

我研究的总体目标是确定心理社会过程 可以作为辅助因子发挥作用，并促进艾滋病毒的疾病进展 血清反应阳性的人，并制定有针对性的心理社会 可以改善疾病进程的干预措施。 过去五 多年来，我一直在描述艾滋病毒阳性同性恋者的心理反应， 男性面临艾滋病流行带来的两个主要压力源： 死亡和丧亲的威胁 我已经确定 以下反应与免疫过程预后相关 艾滋病的发展：特定的情感反应（抑郁症 与悲伤），影响调节策略，阴性艾滋病毒特异性 期望和缺乏对重要生活目标的参与。 中央 免疫介质似乎是免疫激活。 未来五年的具体目标是：1）继续完善 这些反应的概念化和衡量， 生物相关性，2）通过转向研究来扩展这项研究 3）确定艾滋病毒感染的生物学途径， 这些关系，4）评估各种干预措施的影响 生活质量、免疫过程和 艾滋病毒，和5）隔离有效的关键心理治疗的子成分 干预措施。

The overall goal of my research is to determine if psychosocial processes can function as cofactors and contribute to disease progression in HIV seropositive individuals, and to develop targeted psychosocial interventions that can improve the course of disease. Over the past five years I have characterized the psychosocial responses of HIV positive gay men to two of the primary stressors that occur with the AIDS epidemic: the threat of mortality and bereavement. I have determined that the following responses are associated with immunologic processes prognostic for the development of AIDS: specific affective responses (depression versus grief), affect regulation strategies, negative HIV-specific expectancies and lack of engagement with important life goals. A central immunologic mediator appears to be immune activation. The specific aims for the next five years are 1) to continue to refine the conceptualization and measurement of these responses and their biological correlates, 2) to extend this research by shifting to studies of women with HIV, 3) to determine the biological pathways that underlie these relationships, 4) to evaluate the impact of various intervention strategies on quality of life, immunologic processes and the course of HIV, and 5) to isolate key psychotherapeutic sub-components of effective interventions.