Gay-Related Rejection Sensitivity as a Risk Factor for Condomless Sex

Gay-related rejection sensitivity has been linked to numerous adverse health outcomes, but its relationship to condomless sex remains unexamined. 

The present study investigated the role of gay-related rejection sensitivity as a predictor of condomless sex. Gay and bisexual men completed questionnaires measuring rejection sensitivity and condom use self-efficacy as well as a timeline followback interview regarding past 90-day sexual behaviors. 

Gay-related rejection sensitivity was positively associated with the number of condomless anal sex acts with casual partners, and condom use self-efficacy mediated this association. 

These findings have important implications for effective HIV prevention efforts among this at-risk population..

Purchase full article at: http://goo.gl/J6xXht

By: Wang K1, Pachankis JE2.

• 1Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, Yale University, 135 College Street, Suite 200, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA. katie.wang@yale.edu.
• 2Social and Behavioral Sciences Division, Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, USA.  

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Antiretroviral Therapy & Changing Patterns of HIV Stigmatisation in Entebbe, Uganda

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has the potential to change processes of HIV stigmatisation. In this article, changing processes of stigmatisation among a group of people living with HIV (PLWH) on ART in Wakiso District, Uganda, are analysed using qualitative data from a study of PLWH's self-management of HIV on ART. 

There were 38 respondents (20 women, 18 men) who had been taking ART for at least 1 year. They were purposefully selected from government and non-government ART providers. Two in-depth interviews were held with each participant. 

Processes of reduced self-stigmatisation were clearly evident, caused by the recovery of their physical appearance and support from health workers. However most participants continued to conceal their status because they anticipated stigma; for example, they feared gossip, rejection and their status being used against them. 

Anticipated stigma was gendered: women expressed greater fear of enacted forms of stigma such as rejection by their partner; in contrast men's fears focused on gossip, loss of dignity and self-stigmatisation. 

The evidence indicates that ART has not reduced underlying structural drivers of stigmatisation, notably gender identities and inequalities, and that interventions are still required to mitigate and tackle stigmatisation, such as counselling, peer-led education and support groups that can help PLWH reconstruct alternative and more positive identities. 

A video abstract of this article, via: https://youtu.be/WtIaZJQ3Y_8

Via:   http://ht.ly/Ss7A5 

By:  Russell S1, Zalwango F2, Namukwaya S2, Katongole J2, Muhumuza R2, Nalugya R2, Seeley J2.

• 1School of International Development, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk.
• 2Medical Research Council, Uganda Virus Research Institute, Uganda Research Unit on AIDS, Uganda.