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Articles

Other- versus self-focus and risky health behavior: the case of HIV/AIDS

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Pages 902-907 | Received 12 Jun 2015, Accepted 30 Dec 2015, Published online: 19 Jan 2016
 

Abstract

We examined the relationships of other-focus and self-focus with risky health behaviors among HIV+ individuals. Participants who were recruited by an AIDS advocacy organization completed anonymous questionnaires that included measures of other-focus (i.e. empathic concern and perspective-taking) and self-focus (i.e. personal distress and exaggerated internal control); direct measures of concern about the consequences of HIV/AIDS for the self, close others, and society; and a measure of willingness to engage in HIV/AIDS risk behaviors. As predicted, other-focus measures were generally associated with less, and self-focus measures with greater, willingness to engage in risky behavior. However, concern about the consequences of HIV/AIDS for close others was similar to self-focus and was associated with greater willingness to engage in risky behavior. These results are consistent with the notion that prevention efforts focusing on the consequences of HIV/AIDS – and perhaps other communicable diseases – might be more effective if they highlighted the consequences of the disease for society.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the help of the staff and clients of the Nebraska AIDS Project.

Funding

This work was supported by the NIMH [grant number 5R01MH 62061].

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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