Department of Psychology, University of Miami, 5665 Ponce de Leon Blvd, Miami, FL, 33146, USA,
Int J Behav Med. 2014 Apr;21(2):266-74. doi: 10.1007/s12529-013-9305-2.
Numerous studies conducted within the USA demonstrate higher levels of benefit finding in ethnic minority individuals compared to nonminority individuals living with chronic disease.
As benefit finding may be a salient buffer for the effects of stress, the current study examined the association between perceived stress and benefit finding in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)+ men who have sex with men (MSM) living in the southeast USA and investigated whether ethnicity was a moderator of this relationship. We hypothesized that benefit finding would be greater in ethnic minority MSM than in white MSM and that ethnic minority MSM with high levels of stress would experience greater benefit finding than their white MSM counterparts.
The current study utilized baseline (T1) and 3-month follow-up (T2) data drawn from a previous trial of a psychosocial intervention in HIV+ MSM. Participants were 130 HIV+ MSM; 52 % were white and 48 % belonged to minority ethnic groups (African-American, Caribbean-American, Hispanic).
Analyses revealed that benefit finding was greater in ethnic minority MSM at baseline; however, this difference became nonsignificant when age, education level, highly active antiretroviral therapy adherence, and CD4 count were added to the model. Moderated regression analyses revealed a significant interaction between T1 perceived stress and ethnicity in predicting T2 benefit finding, such that higher levels of T1 perceived stress predicted lower levels of T2 benefit finding in ethnic minority MSM only. This association was independent of intervention group assignment.
The current study's results highlight potential differences in the relationship between stress and benefit finding processes in white and ethnic minority HIV+ MSM.
美国进行的多项研究表明，与患有慢性疾病的非少数族裔个体相比，少数族裔个体表现出更高水平的益处发现。
由于益处发现可能是应对压力影响的一个显著缓冲因素，本研究在生活于美国东南部的艾滋病毒（HIV）+男男性行为者（MSM）中，调查了感知压力与益处发现之间的关系，并探讨了种族是否是这种关系的调节因素。我们假设，少数族裔 MSM 的益处发现程度会高于白人 MSM，且高压力水平的少数族裔 MSM 会比其白人 MSM 对应者体验到更大的益处发现。
本研究利用了之前一项针对 HIV+MSM 的心理社会干预试验的基线（T1）和 3 个月随访（T2）数据。参与者共 130 名 HIV+MSM，其中 52%为白人，48%属于少数族裔群体（非裔美国人、加勒比裔美国人、西班牙裔）。
分析显示，少数族裔 MSM 在基线时的益处发现程度更高；然而，当将年龄、教育程度、高效抗逆转录病毒治疗依从性和 CD4 计数纳入模型后，这种差异变得无统计学意义。调节回归分析显示，T1 感知压力与种族在预测 T2 益处发现方面存在显著交互作用，即少数族裔 MSM 的 T1 感知压力水平越高，预测 T2 益处发现水平越低。这种关联独立于干预组的分配。
本研究结果突出了白人 HIV+MSM 和少数族裔 HIV+MSM 之间压力与益处发现过程之间关系的潜在差异。
