DL Jones Self-efficacy and distress in women with AIDS: the SMART/EST women's project. AIDS Care, 2010;14:1-10.

Though African American and Hispanic women accounted for 14% of the female population in the USA, they represented 66% of the total HIV/AIDS diagnoses among women in 2007. Among men living with HIV, increased coping self-efficacy (SE) following a cognitive behavioral intervention has been related to decreased distress, anxiety, anger, and confusion, but comparable studies had not been carried out with HIV+ women. Jones and associates examined the impact of changes in SE following a cognitive behavioral stress management plus expressive supportive therapy (CBSM+) intervention on depression and anxiety in low-income urban predominantly minority women living with AIDS. Women (n=451) were randomized to a group CBSM+ or individual informational intervention condition and completed baseline, post-intervention and long-term follow-up (12 months) assessments of depression, anxiety and SE. Women who were assigned to the CBSM+ group condition and increased their level of cognitive behavioral SE reported significant decreases in anxiety and depression at post-intervention and long-term follow-up in comparison with controls who did not improve.

WHAT THE STUDY MAY MEAN TO YOU AS A HEALTH CARE PROVIDER: The authors concluded that the results suggest that both cognitive behavioral skills and a concomitant increase in the perceived level of SE in the use of those skills are predictive of distress reduction.

WHAT THE STUDY MAY MEAN TO YOU AS A HEALTH CARE CONSUMER:
The study illustrates the importance of cognitive behavioral therapy, which includes self-management, in improving self-efficacy in women with HIV/AIDS.