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Beliefs about Personal and Partner Responsibility among HIV-Seropositive Men Who Have Sex with Men: Measurement and Association with Transmission Risk Behavior

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Abstract

Beliefs of people living with HIV about their own responsibility for preventing HIV transmission (personal responsibility) and their sex partners’ responsibility for protecting themselves (partner responsibility) are poorly understood. A sample of 1163 HIV-seropositive men who have sex with men (MSM; 55% men of color) completed an A-CASI assessment of sexual behavior and psychosocial measures. A two-dimensional model that represents four orientations toward responsibility was tested: (1) self—high personal and low partner responsibility, (2) other—low personal and high partner responsibility, (3) shared—high personal and high partner responsibility, and (4) diminished—low personal and low partner responsibility. As predicted, the self-responsibility group demonstrated the lowest risk of HIV transmission; the other responsibility group had the highest risk. Intermediate risk was observed in the shared and diminished responsibility groups. Implications for future research and HIV prevention efforts are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through cooperative agreements with New Jersey City University (UR3/CCU216471) and the University of California, San Francisco (UR3/CCU916470). The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The authors would especially like to thank the community advisory boards and the study participants for their input and participation. We thank and recognize Caroline J. Bailey for her contributions to our qualitative and early quantitative research on personal responsibility. In addition, the authors also acknowledge the following persons who made significant contributions to the Seropositive Urban Men’s Intervention Trial from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (David W. Purcell, Cynthia M. Lyles, Lisa Belcher), Columbia University (Robert Remien), New Jersey City University (Jeffrey T. Parsons, Perry N. Halkitis, Eric Rodriquez, Michael Stirratt), and University of California, San Francisco (Robert B. Hays, Colleen C. Hoff, William J. Woods).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Richard J. Wolitski, Stephen A. Flores & Ann O’Leary

  2. City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

    David S. Bimbi

  3. San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Cynthia A. Gómez

  4. Prevention Research Branch, Division of HIV and AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (proposed), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton RD NE (E-37), Atlanta, GA, 30333, USA

    Richard J. Wolitski

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  1. Richard J. Wolitski
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  5. Cynthia A. Gómez
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Correspondence to Richard J. Wolitski.

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Wolitski, R.J., Flores, S.A., O’Leary, A. et al. Beliefs about Personal and Partner Responsibility among HIV-Seropositive Men Who Have Sex with Men: Measurement and Association with Transmission Risk Behavior. AIDS Behav 11, 676–686 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-006-9183-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-006-9183-6

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