title: Beliefs about personal and partner responsibility among HIV-seropositive men who have sex with men: measurement and association with transmission risk behavior.
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.
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. rwolitski@cdc.gov
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wolitski
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Flores
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: O'Leary
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Bimbi
authors.forename: Cynthia A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Gómez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003469:Culture; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000523:psychology* / Q000635:transmission*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012747:Sexual Partners; D012928:Social Desirability; D012941:Social Responsibility; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires