Weinrich JD, Atkinson JH, Patterson T, McCutchan JA, Gonsiorek JC, Grant I; International Conference on AIDS.
Int Conf AIDS. 1993 Jun 6-11; 9: 952 (abstract no. PO-D37-4404).
University of California, San Diego.
OBJECTIVES: Little attention has been given to dispositional variables in unsafe sex relapse. We hypothesized (1) that coping strategies and MMPI-II personality profiles might be associated with changes from 1979 to 1989 in unsafe sex--defined as receiving semen rectally without a condom (RSR), and (2) that conflict over sexual identity causes denial of sexual orientation and increased risk of unsafe sex. METHODS: We studied 583 gay/bisexual men with sex histories, scores on MMPI-II, Ways of Coping (Revised), or Klein Sexual Orientation Grid. Data reduction used factor analysis and varimax rotation. Canonical correlation detected associations among variables. N's varied by analysis. RESULTS: An MMPI-II canonical variable (CV) of general maladjustment correlated with high RSR before (1979) and after (1989) AIDS. MMPI-II responses indicating social ineptness, anxiety, withdrawal, and a tendency to blame others correlated with a CV indicating an inability to adopt safer sex in 1989, given a preference for RSR in 1979. In a second analysis (Coping vs. Klein Grid), men high on Escape-avoidant coping were more likely to regret being gay, or to have lived more heterosexually. In a third analysis (these two previously calculated Coping CVs vs. unsafe sex), subjects high on Escape-avoidant coping or low on Confrontive coping tended toward higher RSR in both years. CONCLUSIONS: Dispositional variables are related both to a consistent desire for RSR and an inability to adopt safer behaviors over time.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- Adaptation, Psychological
- Bisexuality
- Condoms
- Homosexuality
- Homosexuality, Male
- Humans
- Learning
- MMPI
- Male
- Personality
- Safe Sex
- Sexual Behavior
- Thinking
- Unsafe Sex
Other ID:
UI: 102207709
From Meeting Abstracts