Publication Cover
AIDS Care
Psychological and Socio-medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV
Volume 29, 2017 - Issue 2
540
Views
7
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

Stigma and disease disclosure among HIV+ individuals: the moderating role of emotion dysregulation

, , , &
Pages 168-176 | Received 17 Dec 2015, Accepted 16 Jun 2016, Published online: 13 Jul 2016
 

ABSTRACT

Increased disclosure of HIV status has been shown to reduce disease transmission among persons living with HIV (PLHIV). HIV-related stigma has been shown to reduce HIV disclosure; however, little is known about factors that may underlie the relation between HIV-related stigma and HIV disclosure. The current study examined emotion dysregulation (i.e., maladaptive generation, processing, and modulation of one’s emotions) in the relation between HIV-related stigma, sub-facets of HIV-related stigma, and HIV disclosure among PLHIV seeking psychological treatment (n = 80; 61.3% male; 56.3% African-American (non-Hispanic); Mage = 48.25, SD = 7.39). Results indicated past experiences of rejection due to one’s HIV status (i.e., enacted stigma), as well as subjective beliefs regarding how PLHIV are evaluated by others (i.e., public attitudes stigma), are significantly related to HIV disclosure. Additionally, these relations are moderated by emotion dysregulation. Specifically, greater HIV-related stigma is associated with reduced HIV disclosure for individuals with greater emotion dysregulation. However, emotion dysregulation did not moderate the relations between negative self-image (e.g., shame, guilt) or disclosure concerns and HIV disclosure. Findings suggest emotion dysregulation may play a moderating role for certain types of HIV disclosure.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research project was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health [grant number F31 099922].

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 53.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 464.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.