BIOBEHAVIORAL EFFECTS OF MINDFULNESS-BASED STRESS REDUCTION IN HIV

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. We propose to determine whether the Mindfulness-Based Reduction (MBSR) program is more effective than a stress and coping writing control condition (SCW) in: (1) improving immune resistance and delaying HIV disease progression (i.e. increases in T-lymphocyte subsets and reductions in viral load), (2) improving psychological status and quality of life, and (3) to determine whether these effects are moderated by the amount of practice and mediated by changes in mindfulness. We hypothesize, consistent with the evidence to date, that: (1) MBSR training will elicit greater improvements in immune status as indexed by increases in T-lymphocytes than the control condition, (2) although there is no evidence of the clinical effectiveness of MBSR with HIV to date, we hypothesize that mindfulness training will produce greater reductions in viral load compared to the control condition, and (3) that mindfulness training will produce greater improvements in psychological status and well-being than the control condition. Finally, we also hypothesize (4) that the magnitude of immune and psychological changes will be moderated by the amount of practice and mediated by increases in mindfulness.