A stress and coping model of medication adherence and viral load in HIV-positive men and women on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

The authors tested a structural model that incorporated age, time since diagnosis, social support, coping, and negative mood as predictors of medication adherence and HIV viral load on 188 men and 134 women on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). The authors used psychosocial latent factors formed from baseline measures to predict latent factors of adherence, as assessed by electronic monitoring and self-report, and viral load defined by indicators assessed over a 15-month period. Results from the model indicate that greater negative mood and lower social support are related to greater use of avoidance-oriented coping strategies. Use of these coping strategies by patients on HAART is related to poorer medication adherence and, subsequently, higher viral load. This model advances researchers' understanding of the contribution of psychosocial variables in predicting treatment adherence and disease progression in HIV-positive men and women.     

Grote’s analysis of Ancient Greek political thought: its significance to J. S. Mill’s idea about ‘active character’ in a liberal democracy

ABSTRACT

George Grote (1794–1871) published the History of Greece between 1846 and 1856, thereby providing the first positive evaluation of democratic Athens in the early modern period and a novel interpretation of the roles of the sophists and of Socrates, premised on his understanding of democratic Athens. Grote’s account offered a sociological explanation of the moral psychology cultivated by the constitution of the Athenian polis through the citizens’ active political participation. This participation cultivated civic virtues, emotional and ethical attachment to the polis, and a sense of obligation towards the polis, even at the expense of self-interest. John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) was familiar with Grote’s historical works and emphasized the parallels between the ancient direct democracy and the modern, representative democracy, which he himself promoted in his Considerations on Representative Government (1861). In this article it is argued that J. S. Mill’s concept of the ‘active character’ of the citizen in a modern representative democracy was inspired by Grote’s understanding and positive evaluation of ancient democratic Athens and its moral psychology. This is one example of the phenomenon mentioned in the editorial to this special issue, namely that accounts of past philosophy may influence philosophy proper.