Psychosocial predictors of unprotected anal intercourse in a sample of HIV positive gay men who volunteer for a sexual risk reduction intervention

S. Semple, T. Patterson, I. Grant

This study used logistic regression analysis to identify psychosocial predictors of unprotected anal intercourse in a sample of 212 HIV positive gay men who were enrolled in a sexual risk reduction intervention. A combination of five psychosocial variables (i.e., age, avoidant coping, loneliness, depressive symptoms, and impulsivity) reliably discriminated between men who had engaged in unprotected anal intercourse with HIV negative or serostatus unknown partners and those who had not engaged in this high risk behavior. Avoidant coping emerged as the best psychological predictor that distinghuished between the two groups. Men who had UAI during the previous 4 months had signicantly higher scores on avoidant coping as compared with the non-UAI group.