Abstract
Limited empirical evidence exists on the interpersonal challenges faced by Chinese serodiscordant male couples in HIV care. This study aimed to explore their coping experiences in HIV care by applying the communal coping process theoretical framework. A dyadic qualitative study using face-to-face interviews with 20 serodiscordant male couples (n = 40) was conducted between July and September 2021 in two Chinese metropolitan areas through purposive sampling. Eligibility included one partner living with HIV and the other being HIV-negative, both aged 18 or older, born male, gay or bisexual, and in a relationship together for at least 3 months. A hybrid deductive–inductive approach integrated with dyadic interview analysis and framework method was used for data analysis. We identified three themes in the coping process in HIV care: (1) coping as an autonomous process, (2) coping as a dissonant process, and (3) coping as a contextualized communal process. Concerning autonomous coping, most couples adopted either disengaged avoidance or mutual noninvolvement as negative coping strategies. We also identified potential risk factors for dissonant coping, which are a partner living with internalized HIV stigma and the couple’s asymmetric relationship goals. Our results indicate the communal coping process of HIV care is contextual, and our expansion of the communal coping theory sheds light on how serodiscordant male couples cope with stressors connected to HIV care. Our findings provide theoretical insights for the development of dyadic interventions based on health psychology for Chinese serodiscordant male couples to engage in HIV care.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to express our gratitude to Yongheng Lu and Jie Lu (Lingnan Partner Community Support Center), Yuming Yao (Guangzhou Zhitong LBGT Center), Jinglei Guo (Changzhi Blue Harbor Working Group), Jianhua Hou (City University of Hong Kong), and Chunying Zhu (Zengcheng District Center for Disease Control and Prevention), for their contributions to participant recruitment. We are grateful to Siyan Meng (UNC Project China) and Shiyun Ji (City University of Hong Kong) for their contributions to data collection and data coding. We would also like to extend special thanks to all the men who cordially shared their stories.
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This study was funded by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, P. R. China (Project No. CityU 11600617).
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RF: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Formal Analysis, Software, Data Curation, Writing-Original Draft, and Writing-Review and Editing. CC: Formal Analysis, Software, and Writing-Review and Editing. YG: Resources and Project Administration. DW: Writing-Review and Editing. LAD: Writing-Review and Editing. NXY: Supervision, Writing-Review and Editing, and Funding acquisition.
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Fu, R., Chen, C., Gu, Y. et al. Communal or Autonomous? Coping Experiences of Chinese Serodiscordant Male Couples to HIV Care: A Dyadic Qualitative Analysis. Arch Sex Behav 52, 3553–3564 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-023-02643-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-023-02643-1