Perceived Control Over Illness, Realistic Acceptance, and Psychological Adjustment in People with AIDS

This study investigated perceptions of control over illness and realistic acceptance of illness and their association with psychological adjustment in people with AIDS. Research has suggested that beliefs in personal control over illness are positively associated with psychological adjustment in several chronic illnesses, even at advanced stages of disease. However, stage theories of death and dying maintain that it is psychologically adaptive to realistically accept the possibility of death, especially at advanced stages of progressive disease. This study investigated both sets of these beliefs in a sample of 42 people with late-stage AIDS. Findings indicated that perceptions of control over illness course were associated with less depressive symptoms and less anxiety about death, and that realistic acceptance—while associated with more comprehensive planning for death—was associated with greater hopelessness. These findings are consistent with research showing that people frequently maintain exaggerated beliefs in personal control, and that these beliefs are generally psychologically adaptive.