Abstract
Background: HIV testing may lead to behavioral changes among some individuals, but no scale has been developed to assess potential mechanisms.
Purpose: We aimed to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a scale to measure psychological reactions to the receipt of a negative HIV test and explore the scale’s associations with unprotected anal intercourse (UAI).
Methods: Two focus groups were conducted to develop the Inventory of Reactions to Testing HIV Negative, which was subsequently tested on 725 men who have sex with men in the New York City area.
Results: Factor analyses confirmed the presence of three subscales—Reinforced Safety, Invulnerability, and Luck. Regression analyses demonstrated that the subscales interacted with HIV testing behavior to influence UAI.
Conclusions: These findings support the notion that there is heterogeneity in how individuals respond to a negative HIV test, with some individuals subsequently being influenced towards increased engagement in HIV risk behaviors.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 371-383 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Annals of Behavioral Medicine |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2014 |
Funding
Acknowledgments Quantitative data for this study were gathered in concert with online recruitment efforts to identify and screen potential participants to enroll in one of the following studies: Pillow Talk (R01-MH087714; PI: Parsons), MiChat (R03-DA031607; PI: Weinberger), and W.I.S.E. (R01-DA029567; PI: Parsons). Qualitative interviews and the development of the Inventory of Reactions to Testing HIV Negative were supported by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA035145; PI: Mustanski). H. Jonathon Rendina’s contributions to this manuscript were supported in part by a National Institute of Mental Health Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31-MH095622). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The authors would like to give special thanks to Ruben Jimenez, Christian Grov, and Ana Ventuneac for their contributions to the design and implementation of the project; to Chris Hietikko and Joshua Guthals for their involvement with recruitment; and to Craig Sineath for conducting the online focus groups.
Keywords
- Factor analysis
- HIV testing
- Men who have sex with men
- Scale development
- Sexual risk behavior
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- General Psychology
