Pathways from violence exposure to medication non-adherence: exploration of mental health symptoms and coping in people living with HIV in the U.S. South

ABSTRACTIn the current study, we examine associations between exposure to violence and antiretroviral medication adherence in persons with HIV (PWH) in a southern city in the United States. We include investigation of a variety of violence exposures including childhood sexual abuse, physical abuse, witnessing family violence, lifetime violence exposures and current stress related to violence experiences, as well as neighborhood violence exposure. We examined associations between violence exposures and adherence and mediational pathways between these variables including mental health symptoms - specifically depressive, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms - as well as coping strategies. Results suggest that physical abuse in childhood was associated with ART non-adherence, no other reported violence experiences were associated with adherence. Of the mediational paths analyzed between violence and ART adherence, only coping with substance use was significant. In post hoc analyses, we examined the mental health symptoms of depression, PTSD and anxiety as mediators between violence exposures and substance use coping. Depressive symptoms were the only significant mediational pathway. Implications for interventions to address histories of violence, depressive symptoms, coping with substance use and adherence are discussed.