Coping profiles and subjective well-being among people living with HIV: less intensive coping corresponds with better well-being

Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between coping strategies and subjective wellbeing (SWB) among people living with HIV (PLWH) using the latent profile analysis (LPA) with control for socio-medical covariates. Methods The sample comprised five hundred and thirty people (N = 530) with a confirmed diagnosis of HIV?. The study was cross-sectional with SWB operationalized by satisfaction with life (Satisfaction with Life Scale) and positive and negative affect (PANAS-X). Coping with stress was measured by the Brief COPE Inventory, enriched by several items that assessed rumination and enhancement of positive emotional states. Additionally, the relevant socio-medical variables were collected. Results The one-step model of LPA revealed the following: (1) a solution with five different coping profiles suited the data best; (2) socio-medical covariates, except for education, were not related to the profiles’ membership. Further analysis with SWB as a distal outcome showed that higher intensity coping profiles have significantly worse SWB when compared with lower intensity coping profiles. However, the lowest SWB was noted for mixed intensity coping profile (high adaptive/low maladaptive). Conclusions The person-centered approach adopted in this study informs about the heterogeneity of disease-related coping among PLWH and its possible reactive character, as the highest SWB was observed among participants with the lowest intensity of coping.