Psychosocial treatment for recurrent genital herpes.

Thirty-one individuals with recurrent genital herpes were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: psychosocial intervention, social support, or waiting-list control. Each treatment condition contained two 5-member groups, and the waiting-list condition contained 11 members. Six consecutive weekly 90-min group treatment sessions were conducted for subjects in the first two conditions, whereas those in the waiting-list control condition were offered treatment at follow-up. Subjects in psychosocial intervention were provided with herpes simplex virus (HSV) information, relaxation training, stress management instructions, and an imagery technique. The social support groups shared feelings and experiences about the disease and served as placebo control subjects. Individuals receiving psychosocial intervention reported significantly greater reductions in herpes activity and significant improvements on emotional distress, social support, and cognitive measures when compared with the other individuals. It was concluded that psychosocial intervention effectively reduced the chronicity of recurrent HSV infections and facilitated adjustment to the disease. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)