Abstract
Relationship of coping and perceived social support to emotional distress in people living with HIV. The authors describe the relationship between coping and perceived social support with the emotional distress in a sample of 229 men and women adults with HIV infection from two different cultures (Spanish and Peruvian). The results show associations between coping variables and perceived social support with the level of emotional distress experienced. No variations have been found on coping considering the illness progression and decrease of immune system, for the complete sample. Nevertheless, some differences have been identified analyzing both samples separately. The specific coping strategies: avoidance/passive behaviours, low active-positive involvement, cognitive-passive/ruminative, active reliance on others and the lack of perceived support of the affective environment, have explained 29% of the total variance in the emotional distress, through the analysis of multiple regression.
