Men who have sex with men (MSM) remain disproportionately represented in the national HIV/AIDS statistics. Little progress has been made in understanding the nuances of MSM sexual behavior or communication that may be perpetuating the spread of HIV. Non- disclosure of an HIV-positive status may be a key factor responsible for male-male HIV transmission. There are no known intervention programs whose primary focus is to help MSM develop requisite skills to disclose their status to casual sexual partners. The development of such interventions is essential because of the numerous repercussions for not disclosing when one is knowingly HIV-positive such as legal prosecution and the transmission of HIV. In a previous intervention development study (R21MH067494) the research team created and tested a 4 session intervention found to be promising for increasing disclosure to casual sexual partners. The purpose of the proposed research is to further refine and enhance our HIV disclosure intervention (DI) designed to increase disclosure to casual sexual partners and reduce sexual risk taking behaviors among HIV- positive MSM;assess the relative effectiveness of a disclosure intervention to an attention control case management group (ACCM) for HIV-positive MSM;examine the effects of the intervention over time;explore differential treatment responses to the disclosure intervention and ACCM on the basis of ethnicity, age, and education level as well as examine the mediating effect of baseline frequency of sexual activity, severity of substance abuse at baseline, and stigmatized fear on the relationship between intervention type and the outcome. Finally we will test how treatment engagement, retention and expectations predict subsequent disclosure and risky sexual outcomes.

Public Health Relevance

Reducing the spread of HIV is a national public health priority, and understanding HIV disclosure patterns and theory-driven interventions to enhance disclosure is necessary for HIV prevention efforts. The purpose of this project is to compare the relative effectiveness of our disclosure intervention to case management for HIV-positive MSM. There are no known interventions focusing on facilitating HIV disclosure to sexual partners. The development of such an intervention is essential because of the numerous repercussions, including transmission of HIV, for not disclosing HIV positive status.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
7R01MH082639-04
Application #
8307907
Study Section
Behavioral and Social Consequences of HIV/AIDS Study Section (BSCH)
Program Officer
Grossman, Cynthia I
Project Start
2009-08-14
Project End
2014-07-31
Budget Start
2012-08-01
Budget End
2013-07-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$581,345
Indirect Cost
$181,708
Name
University of South Florida
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
069687242
City
Tampa
State
FL
Country
United States
Zip Code
33612
Brown, Monique J; Serovich, Julianne M; Kimberly, Judy A (2018) Perceived intentional transmission of HIV infection, sustained viral suppression and psychosocial outcomes among men who have sex with men living with HIV: a cross-sectional assessment. Sex Transm Infect 94:483-486
Brown, Monique J; Serovich, Julianne M; Kimberly, Judy A (2018) Vengeance, sexual compulsivity and self-efficacy among men who have sex with men living with HIV. AIDS Care 30:325-329
Serovich, Julianne M; Laschober, Tanja C; Brown, Monique J et al. (2018) Assessment of HIV disclosure and sexual behavior among Black men who have sex with men following a randomized controlled intervention. Int J STD AIDS 29:673-679
Brown, Monique J; Serovich, Julianne M; Laschober, Tanja C et al. (2018) Age and racial disparities in substance use and self-reported viral suppression among men who have sex with men with HIV. Int J STD AIDS 29:1174-1182
Serovich, Julianne M; Laschober, Tanja C; Brown, Monique J et al. (2018) Evaluation of HIV Disclosure Behavior Following a Randomized Controlled Disclosure Intervention for Men Who Have Sex with Men Living with HIV. Arch Sex Behav 47:2051-2059
Serovich, Julianne M; Laschober, Tanja C; Brown, Monique J et al. (2017) Longitudinal Findings on Changes in and the Link Between HIV-Related Communication, Risky Sexual Behavior, and Relationship Status in Men Who Have Sex With Men Living With HIV. Sex Transm Dis 44:732-738
Brown, Monique J; Serovich, Julianne M; Kimberly, Judy A et al. (2017) Vengeance, Condomless Sex and HIV Disclosure Among Men Who Have Sex with Men Living with HIV. AIDS Behav 21:2650-2658
Hu, Jinxiang; Serovich, Julianne M; Chen, Yi-Hsin et al. (2017) Psychometric Evaluation of the HIV Disclosure Belief Scale: A Rasch Model Approach. AIDS Behav 21:174-183
Brown, Monique J; Serovich, Julianne M; Kimberly, Judy A (2016) Outcome Expectancy and Sexual Compulsivity Among Men Who Have Sex with Men Living with HIV. AIDS Behav 20:1667-74
Li, Haochu; Chen, Xinguang; Yu, Bin (2016) Disclosure appraisal mediating the association between perceived stigma and HIV disclosure to casual sex partners among HIV+ MSM: a path model analysis. AIDS Care 28:722-5

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