title: A qualitative analysis of male couples' coping with HIV: Disentangling the "we".
abstract: Research suggests that optimal couple functioning depends on adopting a "we" orientation to health. Using qualitative data from 20 male couples in which at least one partner was HIV-positive, we examined how couples viewed their health involvement and its relation to social support. One group described their health as highly interconnected; in a second group, at least one partner viewed health as a personal responsibility. Results revealed that there was not a uniform "we" approach toward health; rather, sero-concordance, sero-discordance, and coping with other chronic illnesses strongly contributed to orientations toward health. Orientations toward health were not found to determine social support.
authors.affiliation: Alpert Medical School of Brown University, USA Kristi_Gamarel@brown.edu.
authors.forename: Kristi E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Gamarel
authors.affiliation: RTI International, USA.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Comfort
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Francisco, USA.
authors.forename: Troy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Francisco, USA.
authors.forename: Torsten B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Neilands
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Francisco, USA.
authors.forename: Mallory O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: AIDS; coping; family; qualitative methods; social support