Perceived Risk of AIDS: Assessing the Behavioral and Psychosocial Consequences in a Cohort of Gay Men1

Longitudinal analyses reported here explored the relationship between a perceived sense of being at risk for AIDS and a variety of behavioral social and psychological consequences. Data were obtained from cohort of 637 homosexual men living in Chicago who are participating in a psychosocial study and have completed 2 waves of data collection. Their perceptions of risk were quantified using both an absolute and a comparative measure; these were combined into a risk index scored from 1-9 (chi square=3.91; SD=1.64). Univariate analyses demonstrated that level of risk was related to several measures of subsequent behavioral risk reduction. However after adjustment for sociodemographic variables initial behavior and other components of a model predicting behavior change this was no longer true. Of the 12 behavioral outcomes assessed only 1 related to risk after appropriate adjustment and this relationship was negative. Other longitudinal analyses examined the impact of a sense of risk on measures of psychosocial functioning which have been theoretically linked to health behaviors and to measures of psychological/social distress. These demonstrated a range of potentially adverse consequences for those who perceived themselves to be at a greater risk for AIDS including increased barriers to behavioral change obsessive/compulsive behavior social role impairment and more intrusive worries and concerns about AIDS. Taken together these results suggest that there is little or leads to distress and dysfunction in a variety of realms. The implications of these findings for development of policy concerning antibody testing of at-risk populations is discussed. (authors)