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Relationship Characteristics Associated with Perceptions of Partners’ HIV Testing Behavior Among Male Couples

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Abstract

Partnered men who have sex with men are not immune to the risk of HIV. Analyzing dyadic data from 360 male couples recruited from April 2016 to June 2017, we examined how relationship characteristics might influence HIV testing behavior and perceptions of partners’ HIV testing. Increasing levels of mutual trust were associated with lower odds of both partners (versus neither) having been tested in the past year (aOR = 0.91, 95% CI 0.83–0.99), but increasing levels of communal coping were associated with higher odds (aOR = 1.06, 95% CI 1.02–1.10). Only one partner was more likely to be correct about whether or not his partner had been tested in the past year (versus both) if someone had broken their sexual agreement (aOR = 2.60, 95% CI 1.17–5.76). Increasing differences in trust (aOR = 1.10, 95% CI 1.01–1.20) were also associated with higher odds of only one partner being correct. Dyadic HIV prevention efforts should incorporate skills building around negotiating sexual agreements and constructive communication.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award number R01-HD-078131. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NICHD or the NIH. The sponsor had no involvement in the conduct of the research or the preparation of the manuscript. The authors would like to thank all couples who participated in Project Nexus.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Sexuality and Health Disparities, University of Michigan School of Nursing, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Akshay Sharma, Erin Kahle, Stephen Sullivan & Rob Stephenson

  2. Department of Health Behavior and Biological Sciences, University of Michigan School of Nursing, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Akshay Sharma & Erin Kahle

  3. Department of Systems, Populations, and Leadership, University of Michigan School of Nursing, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Rob Stephenson

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  1. Akshay Sharma
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Correspondence to Akshay Sharma.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board at the University of Michigan (HUM00102906). The study is also registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02335138).

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Sharma, A., Kahle, E., Sullivan, S. et al. Relationship Characteristics Associated with Perceptions of Partners’ HIV Testing Behavior Among Male Couples. AIDS Behav 24, 516–531 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-019-02740-0

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