Beliefs about Personal and Partner Responsibility among HIV-Seropositive Men Who Have Sex with Men: Measurement and Association with Transmission Risk Behavior

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.