Abstract
This study examined how the expression of positive and negative affect words and word tense in autobiographical narratives of 98 HIV+ women, predominantly African American, predicted undetectable HIV viral load (UDVL), CD4+ cells/mm3 counts and antiretroviral therapy medication (ART) adherence assessed concurrently (T1) and at 3 to 9-month follow-up (T2). Logistic regressions revealed that higher past tense words predicted worse odds of UDVL, CD4+ cells/mm3 above 350 at T1, and worse odds of 95% ART adherence at T2. However, using both high past tense words and high positive affect words predicted better odds of CD4+ cells/mm3 > 350 at T2. Higher future tense words predicted better odds of CD4+ cells/mm3 > 350 at T1. Additionally, using both high present tense words and negative affect words predicted better odds of UDVL at T1. These findings provide preliminary evidence that the quality of affect expression significantly interacts with temporal context to relate to the health of women with HIV.
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21 July 2018
The original version of the article contained a mistake. The author has inadvertently given incorrect grant number. The corrected Grant No. is U01-AI034993.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the WIHS participants and WIHS staff, especially Sally Urwin, Cheryl Watson, and Karlene Schowalter, who collected and managed data, and Sannisha Dale, Gwendolyn Kelso and Ruth Cruise who transcribed and coded data.
Funding
This study was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Grant U01-AI-34994 (PIs, Dr. Mardge Cohen and Dr. Audrey French) and co-funded by the National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Drug Abuse. The contents of this publication are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institutes of Health.
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Yudelki M. Firpo-Perretti, Mardge H. Cohen, Kathleen M. Weber, and Leslie R. Brody declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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Firpo-Perretti, Y.M., Cohen, M.H., Weber, K.M. et al. Past, present or future? Word tense and affect in autobiographical narratives of women with HIV in relation to health indicators. J Behav Med 41, 875–889 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-018-9944-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-018-9944-5