Trait Self-Enhancement, Immune Markers, and Risk-Reduction Behaviors in HIV-Positive Gay Men

Abstract

Over the past few decades, a relationship has emerged between intrapsychic factors and health outcomes in HIV-positive and other populations. We examined whether trait self-enhancement would correlate with immune markers and sexual risk taking in a sample of 54 asymptomatic HIV-positive gay men, most of whom were ethnic minorities. Participants completed a one-time assessment with regard to self-enhancement, psychological distress, and sexual risk taking, and provided consent to access information regarding immune status and other health-related variables. Both self-enhancement and minority status were significantly associated with CD4 counts, but the latter effect disappeared when looking at only white and African American participants. Neither factor was related to viral load, sexual risk taking, or psychological distress. More research with larger and more diverse samples is needed to further elucidate the possible salutary relationship between self-enhancement and critical medical and behavioral outcomes in this population.

KEYWORDS:

• Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR)
• CD4 counts
• gay men
• HIV
• immune markers
• minority participants
• self-enhancement
• sexual risk-taking
• viral load

Notes

*Viral load was not normally distributed; a log10 transformed variable revealed no significant difference between groups.

^a Based on n of 2.

^b based on n of 30.

*p < .08 (one-tailed), **= p < .05 (one-tailed), ***= p < .01 (one-tailed).

Distress = Symptom Checklist-90-Revised mean score; # Partners = number of partners with whom participant had unprotected sex in the past year; HIV years = number of years participant had been living with HIV; Education = having a high school education or less versus having some college or more.

Minority status = white versus ethnic minority. Doctors visits = the number of visits to a doctor within the previous 12 months.

*p < .05.

Minority status = white versus African American. Doctors visits = the number of visits to a doctor within the previous 12 months.

*p < .05, **p = .06.