A Pilot Adherence Intervention for HIV-Infected Youth

John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital-Cook County, Chicago IL

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

As the numbers of adolescents and young adults with HIV continue to increase, it becomes important to develop medication adherence interventions for a group with historically low rates of adherence. Among adults living with HIV, one of the most consistently significant predictors of medication non-adherence has been depression or the presence of depressive symptomatology (Singh et al., 1996; Chesney et al., 1996). Depression has also been found to be a significant predictor of medication non-adherence among HIV-positive adolescents (Hosek, 2000). This research project aims to expand the existing HIV adherence literature by exploring the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral depression/coping skills intervention in increasing medication adherence among HIV-infected youth. Adolescents and young adults infected with HIV will be recruited from a large midwestern public medical facility and randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the standard-care comparison group. The results from this project are important in the development and implementation of larger interventions aimed at increasing medication adherence within this population.