RTI uses cookies to offer you the best experience online. By clicking “accept” on this website, you opt in and you agree to the use of cookies. If you would like to know more about how RTI uses cookies and how to manage them please view our Privacy Policy here. You can “opt out” or change your mind by visiting: http://optout.aboutads.info/. Click “accept” to agree.
A qualitative analysis of male couples' coping with HIV
Disentangling the "we"
Gamarel, K. E., Comfort, M., Wood, T., Neilands, T. B., & Johnson, M. O. (2016). A qualitative analysis of male couples' coping with HIV: Disentangling the "we". Journal of Health Psychology, 21(10), 2125-2137. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105315571975
Research suggests that optimal couple functioning depends on adopting a we orientation to health. Using qualitative data from 20 male couples in which at least one partner was HIV-positive, we examined how couples viewed their health involvement and its relation to social support. One group described their health as highly interconnected; in a second group, at least one partner viewed health as a personal responsibility. Results revealed that there was not a uniform we approach toward health; rather, sero-concordance, sero-discordance, and coping with other chronic illnesses strongly contributed to orientations toward health. Orientations toward health were not found to determine social support.
