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Feasibility and Acceptability of an Online Positive Affect Intervention for Those Living with Comorbid HIV Depression

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Abstract

Positive affect has unique beneficial effects on psychological and physical health, independent of the effects of negative affect. Interventions that explicitly target positive affect show promise for improving health outcomes in a number of chronic illnesses. In this article, we present pilot data on the acceptability and feasibility of an online intervention to increase positive affect in those living with comorbid human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and depression. The intervention was rated both acceptable and feasible by participants. Six of nine participants completed the intervention and the subsequent follow-up assessment and a post-intervention phone call. We also present outcomes of planned comparisons of intervention effects on emotion, which indicate that positive affect increased significantly in the intervention group. Based upon results of the current study, future research should continue the development of positive affect interventions for people living with comorbid HIV and depression.

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Funding

This work was Funded from a Grant to Judith T. Moskowitz from the UCSF Resource Allocation Program and was made possible with help from the Third Coast Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), an NIH funded center (P30 AI117943). Sarah M. Bassett was supported in this work by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Grant 5T32HS000084-20.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, 625 N Michigan Ave #2726, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    S. M. Bassett & J. T. Moskowitz

  2. Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    M. Cohn & P. Cotten

  3. Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    I. Kwok

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  1. S. M. Bassett
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  2. M. Cohn
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  3. P. Cotten
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  4. I. Kwok
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  5. J. T. Moskowitz
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Correspondence to J. T. Moskowitz.

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Bassett, S.M., Cohn, M., Cotten, P. et al. Feasibility and Acceptability of an Online Positive Affect Intervention for Those Living with Comorbid HIV Depression. AIDS Behav 23, 753–764 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-019-02412-z

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