Calendaring and alarms can improve naturalistic time-based prospective memory for youth infected with HIV

Abstract

Individuals with HIV disease often evidence deficits in prospective memory (PM), which interfere with daily functioning and increase the risk of suboptimal health behaviours. This study examined the benefits of simple encoding and cueing supports on naturalistic time-based PM in 47 HIV-positive young adults. All participants completed a naturalistic time-based PM task in which they were instructed to text the examiner once per day for seven days at a specified time. Participants were randomised into (1) a Calendaring condition in which they created a calendar event in their mobile telephone for the specified texting time; (2) an Alarm condition in which they programmed an alarm into their mobile telephone for the specified texting time; (3) a Combined calendaring and alarm condition; and (4) a Control condition. Participants in the Combined condition demonstrated significantly better naturalistic PM performance than participants in the Control and Calendaring conditions. Findings indicate that HIV-positive young people may benefit from a combined calendaring and alarm supportive strategy for successful execution of future intentions in daily life.

Keywords: AIDS dementia complex; Infectious disease; cue salience; episodic memory; neuropsychological rehabilitation.

Figures

Figure 1

Effect of Condition on Naturalistic Time-Based PM Performance. *p=.0142, Cohen’s d=1.2. ap=.0641, Cohen’s d=1.1. bp=.0862, Cohen’s d=1.1.

Figure 2

Errors Recorded on the Naturalistic Time-based PM Task across Study Conditions. Error bars represent one standard error from the mean. *Cohen’s d=.66, p=0.053.