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. 2021 Jun;28(2):301-312.
doi: 10.1007/s10880-020-09715-7.

Apathy is Associated with Critical Psychological Determinants of Medication Adherence in HIV Disease

Michelle A Babicz  1 , Steven Paul Woods  2 , Pariya Fazeli  3 , Erin E Morgan  4
Affiliations

Apathy is Associated with Critical Psychological Determinants of Medication Adherence in HIV Disease

Michelle A Babicz et al. J Clin Psychol Med Settings. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

Apathy is common in HIV, separable from depression, and has been associated with non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART). We examined the associations between apathy and critical psychological determinants of ART adherence, as per the information-motivation-behavioral model, in 85 persons living with HIV. Apathy was measured using a composite of the apathy subscale of the Frontal Systems Behavioral Scale and the vigor-activation scale of the Profile of Mood States. Independent of major depressive disorder, apathy was related at small-to-medium effect sizes with motivation to adhere and self-efficacy for health-related decision-making and medication management, but not with HIV knowledge or medication management skills. These findings suggest that apathy plays a unique role in several critical health adherence determinants and support the importance of assessment and management of apathy to maximize health outcomes among individuals with HIV disease.

Keywords: Apathy; HIV/AIDS; Medication adherence; Motivation; Neuropsychiatry.

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Conflict of interest statement

This study was supported by NIH grants R21-MH098607, R01-MH073419, and P30-MH62512. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Navy, Department of Defense, nor the United States Government. The present study involved human participants, all of which provided informed, written consent after the nature of the study and procedures were fully explained to them.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Associations between apathy and medication management determinants. ^ = Cohen’s d transformed to Spearman’s rho. * = p < .05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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