Coping with human immunodeficiency virus: Do optimists fare better?

Individuals who test positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) face a difficult adjustment task. It was hypothesized that those who were more optimistic would cope more effectively and experience less distress. Both general and health-specific measures of coping were used. Optimism and distraction were negatively related to state anxiety, whereas emotional preoccupation was positively related to state anxiety. Optimism was not a predictor of depression. Rather, distraction was negatively related to depression, whereas palliative coping, emotional preoccupation, and the interaction of palliative coping and optimism were positively related to depression. The mediation of optimism by coping variables indicated that emotion-oriented coping was a negative mediator of optimism on both state anxiety and depression. Distraction (which includes some social diversion content) was a mediator of the impact of optimism on depression.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]