Do safer sex self-efficacy, attitudes toward condoms, and HIV transmission risk beliefs differ among men who have sex with men, heterosexual men, and women living with HIV?

Journal Article (Journal Article)

To understand sexual decision-making processes among people living with HIV, we compared safer sex self-efficacy, condom attitudes, sexual beliefs, and rates of unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse with at-risk partners (UAVI-AR) in the past 3 months among 476 people living with HIV: 185 men who have sex with men (MSM), 130 heterosexual men, and 161 heterosexual women. Participants were enrolled in SafeTalk, a randomized, controlled trial of a safer sex intervention. We found 15% of MSM, 9% of heterosexual men, and 12% of heterosexual women engaged in UAVI-AR. Groups did not differ in self-efficacy or sexual attitudes/beliefs. However, the associations between these variables and UAVI-AR varied within groups: greater self-efficacy predicted less UAVI-AR for MSM and women, whereas more positive condom attitudes--but not self-efficacy--predicted less UAVI-AR for heterosexual men. These results suggest HIV prevention programs should tailor materials to different subgroups.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Widman, L; Golin, CE; Grodensky, CA; Suchindran, C

Published Date

  • June 2013

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 17 / 5

Start / End Page

  • 1873 - 1882

PubMed ID

  • 22252475

Pubmed Central ID

  • PMC3657340

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1573-3254

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 1090-7165

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1007/s10461-011-0108-7

Language

  • eng