Disclosure and Stigma of a Positive HIV-Serostatus: A Two-Step Cluster Analysis of the HIV Disclosure Scale.

ABSTRACT

Despite national efforts to improve the public's education about an HIV diagnosis, stigma still plays a significant role in how persons living with HIV (PLH) decide to disclose their serostatus to friends, family, or healthcare workers. Disclosure can be related to both positive and negative psychological health outcomes, including rates of depression and perceived social support. Researchers often assess disclosure patterns in PLH due to its association with important health implications; however, to date, there are no empirically validated measures of HIV-serostatus disclosure. The HIV Disclosure Scale (HDS) was created to assess various aspects of the disclosure process and has been utilized in several studies as an adequate measurement of HIV-serostatus disclosure despite no available psychometric data. This study aims to uncover constructs measured by the HDS using exploratory two-step cluster analysis to provide an initial analysis of the psychometric properties of this scale.