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Supportive-Expressive and Coping Group Teletherapies for HIV-Infected Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial

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Abstract

This clinical trial tested whether telephone-administered supportive-expressive group therapy or coping effectiveness training reduce depressive symptoms in HIV-infected older adults. Participants from 24 states (N = 361) completed the Geriatric Depression Scale at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 4- and 8-month follow-up and were randomized to one of three study arms: (1) 12 weekly sessions of telephone-administered, supportive-expressive group therapy (tele-SEGT; n = 122); (2) 12 weekly sessions of telephone-administered, coping effectiveness training (tele-CET; n = 118); or (3) a standard of care (SOC) control group (n = 121). Tele-SEGT participants reported fewer depressive symptoms than SOC controls at post-intervention (MSEGT = 11.9, MSOC = 14.3) and 4- (MSEGT = 12.5, MSOC = 14.4) and 8-month follow-up (MSEGT = 12.7, MSOC = 14.5) and fewer depressive symptoms than tele-CET participants at post-intervention (MSEGT = 12.4, MCET = 13.6) and 8-month follow-up (MSEGT = 12.7, MCET = 14.1). Tele-CET participants reported no statistically significant differences from SOC controls in GDS values at any assessment period. Tele-SEGT constitutes an efficacious treatment to reduce depressive symptoms in HIV-infected older adults.

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Abbreviations

AIDS:

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

ASOs:

AIDS service organizations

CET:

Coping effectiveness training

GDS:

Geriatric depression scale

GEE:

Generalized estimating equations

FU:

Follow-up

HAART:

Highly active antiretroviral therapy

HIV:

Human immunodeficiency virus

IRB:

Institutional review board

MSM:

Men who have sex with men

PTSD:

Post-traumatic stress disorder

RCT:

Randomized clinical trial

SEGT:

Supportive-expressive group therapy

SOC:

Standard of care

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Acknowledgments

We extend our appreciation to the many AIDS-related organizations that collaborated on this study and to all study participants. We also thank Dr. David Spiegel and Dr. Cheryl Gore-Felton for generously providing our research team with a copy of their SEGT manual that was adapted for use in this study. The project described was supported by Grant RO1 MH078749 from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIMH, the NINR, or the NIH. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00365690.

Conflict of interest

No author is reporting a conflict of interest, financial or otherwise.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geriatric Medicine/Gerontology, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Athens, OH, USA

    Timothy G. Heckman, Mark Sutton & Jen-Tzer Gau

  2. College of Public Health, University of Georgia, 130D Coverdell Center, 500 D.W. Brooks Drive, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Timothy G. Heckman & Mark Sutton

  3. Department of Psychology, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA

    Bernadette D. Heckman & Timothy Anderson

  4. Department of Counseling and Human Development Services, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Bernadette D. Heckman

  5. Mental Health and Clinical Neurosciences Division, Portland V.A. Medical Center, Portland, OR, USA

    Travis I. Lovejoy

  6. Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    David Mohr

  7. Department of Social Medicine, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Athens, OH, USA

    Joseph A. Bianco

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  1. Timothy G. Heckman
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  2. Bernadette D. Heckman
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  4. Travis I. Lovejoy
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  7. Joseph A. Bianco
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  8. Jen-Tzer Gau
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Timothy G. Heckman.

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Heckman, T.G., Heckman, B.D., Anderson, T. et al. Supportive-Expressive and Coping Group Teletherapies for HIV-Infected Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial. AIDS Behav 17, 3034–3044 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-013-0441-0

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