Reasons for HIV disclosure/nondisclosure in close relationships: Testing a model of HIV-disclosure decision making

This research examined the relative importance of reasons for HIV disclosure/nondisclosure with a friend, intimate partner, and parents. Participants were 145 men and women with HIV. Overall, catharsis, a will to duty/educate, and having a close/supportive relationship were endorsed as reasons that influence HIV disclosure. Privacy, self-blame, fear of rejection, and protecting the other were endorsed as reasons that influence nondisclosure. Both men and women endorsed testing the other's reaction as a reason for disclosing more for an intimate partner, whereas they endorsed privacy more as a reason for not disclosing to a friend. Men (mostly self-identified as homosexuals or bisexuals), but not women (mostly self-identified as heterosexuals), endorsed similarity as a reason for disclosing more to a friend or intimate partner than to a parent. The results are consistent with a Model of HIV-Disclosure Decision Making that indicates how cultural attitudes (about HIV, close relationships, and self-disclosure) and contextual factors (relational, individual, and temporal factors) influence reasons for and against HIV disclosure.