Personal values and onward disclosure of HIV status
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The relationship between communal and agentic values and onward disclosure of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status in young adults with perinatally acquired HIV.
IRAS ID
243349
Contact name
Georgina E Lehmann
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Onward disclosure (sharing one’s HIV status with others) has been associated with positive consequences including increased social support and medication adherence. Given the potential benefits of onward disclosure an important area of research concerns increasing our theoretical understanding of this process. Personal values have been associated with social and health behaviours. Despite this, theories which explain what contributes to individuals’ decisions to disclose have not considered the role of values. This study aims to address this gap through answering the research question: "Is there a relationship between disclosure behaviour and communal and agentic values in young adults with perinatally acquired HIV (PAH)?"
Communion and agency represent two distinguishable aspects of human existence. Communal values focus on others and are characterised by honesty, loyalty and compassion. Agentic values focus on the self and are characterised by independence and self-control. PAH refers to the mother-to-child transmission of HIV infection. Disclosure rates are particularly low in this population.
A correlational study design will be used. Eligible participants will have a PAH diagnosis, will be aged 16+ and will be recruited from St Mary's Hospital, St George's Hospital and the Children’s HIV Association (CHIVA). Participants will complete questionnaires which quantify their disclosure behaviour, satisfaction with disclosure decisions, disclosure intention and their communal and agentic values. From informed consent to last contact participants will be expected to participate in the study for approximately 45 to 60 minutes.
It is predicted that greater endorsement of communal values, will be associated with higher rates of disclosure, whereas greater endorsement of agentic values, will be associated with lower rates of disclosure. Correlational analysis will be completed to assess if the proposed relationship between these variables is found. Exploratory analysis will be completed to assess whether these relationships are independent of disclosure self-efficacy, a known correlate of disclosure. The study is funded by Royal Holloway, University of London.
REC name
London - Fulham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/1083
Date of REC Opinion
2 Aug 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion