Emotion regulation as a potential moderator of the association between HIV stigma and nonadherence to antiretroviral therapy among youth living with HIV

• Published in: Journal of adolescence (London, England.) Vol. 96; no. 5; pp. 1048 - 1064
• Main Authors: Wiginton, John Mark, Amico, K. Rivet, Hightow‐Weidman, Lisa, Sullivan, Patrick, Horvath, Keith J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.07.2024
• Subjects: Antiretroviral therapy; ART adherence; Cisgender; Cognition; Drug therapy; emotion regulation; Emotional regulation; Emotions; HIV; HIV stigma; Human immunodeficiency virus; Prescription drugs; Self control; Stigma; Youth; youth living with HIV; emotion regulation; youth living with HIV; HIV stigma; ART adherence
• ISSN: 0140-1971; 1095-9254; 1095-9254
• DOI: 10.1002/jad.12315

Introduction Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)‐related stigma affects adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for youth living with HIV. Emotion regulation strategies such as cognitive reappraisal (reinterpreting adversity to mitigate emotional impact) and expressive suppression (inhibiting emotion‐expressive behavior activated by adversity) may moderate the HIV stigma‐ART adherence relationship in this group. Methods Using baseline data from 208 youth living with HIV aged 15–24 years enrolled in an mHealth ART‐adherence intervention, we performed modified Poisson regressions with robust variance between HIV stigma (internalized, anticipated, enacted) and ART nonadherence. We tested for multiplicative interaction via product terms between HIV stigma and emotion regulation scores, and additive interaction via relative excess risk due to interaction and attributable proportion using dichotomous HIV stigma and emotion regulation variables. Results Mean age was 21 years; ≥50% of participants were cisgender male, non‐Hispanic Black, and gay‐identifying; 18% reported ART nonadherence. Confounder‐adjusted regressions showed positive associations between each HIV stigma variable and ART nonadherence. Internalized HIV stigma and cognitive reappraisal negatively, multiplicatively interacted (as internalized HIV stigma increased, ART nonadherence increased for those with low cognitive reappraisal). High internalized HIV stigma positively, additively interacted with low cognitive reappraisal and low expressive suppression (when high internalized HIV stigma and low levels of either emotion regulation strategy were present, ART nonadherence increased dramatically). Conclusion Cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression may protect against internalized HIV stigma's harmful association with ART nonadherence. These modifiable emotion regulation strategies may be targeted to potentially buffer the effects of internalized HIV stigma and support ART adherence for youth living with HIV.