Predictors of medication adherence among HIV-infected youth

The purpose of this study was to examine the rates of medication adherence among HIV-infected adolescents/young adults and to explore the relationship between negative affect, cognitive ability/formal reasoning, and substance use on the medication adherence of these youth. Forty-two HIV-positive youth (25 males, 17 females; age range 16 – 24) currently taking antiretroviral medications were recruited to participate in a one-hour interview. Using the time-line follow-back calendar method, 66% of participants had missed a dose of medicine in the past week while 42% missed a dose ‘yesterday’. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that both depression and age of first marijuana use were statistically significant predictors of non-adherence (p < .01, R2 = .326). Specifically, higher rates of depressive symptoms and younger age of first marijuana use predicted higher rates of non-adherence. Developmentally, 69% of the sample had yet to begin the transition from concrete thinking to formal or abstract reasoning. The results from this project demonstrate that adherence to antiretroviral medications continues to be a problem with HIV-infected youth. These results are an important first step toward the development of interventions aimed at increasing medication adherence among adolescents and young adults living with HIV.