Positive religious coping predicts self-reported HIV medication adherence at baseline and twelve-month follow-up among Black Americans living with HIV in the Southeastern United States

This paper presents the results of secondary data analyses investigating the influence of religious coping on HIV medication adherence across time among 167 Black Americans living with HIV (BALWH) in the Southeastern United States. Participants were recruited from a large urban clinic in Atlanta, GA and completed questionnaires about their religious coping at baseline assessment and about their medication adherence at baseline and 12-month follow-up assessment. Descriptive analyses and multiple linear regression were used to determine the association between religious coping and HIV medication adherence. Findings indicated that after controlling for age and depressive symptoms at baseline, positive religious coping significantly predicted medication adherence at baseline and 12-month follow-up. Negative religious coping was inversely associated with medication adherence at baseline after controlling for age and depressive symptoms but not at 12-month follow-up. The implications of these findings for future research and intervention work related to medication adherence among BALWH are discussed.