Self-Efficacy for Disclosing 1 Assessing Self-Efficacy for HIV Serostatus Disclosure Decisions and Negotiating Safer Sex in HIV Seropositive Persons: Scale Development, Reliability, and Validity

Four studies were conducted to systematically develop scales for assessing self-efficacy to disclose HIV status to sex partners and negotiate safer sex practices among men and women living with HIV-AIDS. The first study used elicitation research methods to derive four sets of scenarios with graduated situational demands that could serve as stimulus materials in assessing self-efficacy. Two subsequent studies demonstrated that the self-efficacy scales for effective disclosure decisions and negotiating safer sex practices were internally consistent. Scales for assessing self-efficacy for HIV status disclosure decision-making and negotiating safer sex were also time stable over 1-month and demonstrated evidence for construct validity. In the fourth study, self-efficacy scales for effective disclosure decisions and negotiating safer sex were again reliable and showed evidence for construct, convergent, and divergent validity. Reliable and valid instruments for assessing self-efficacy to make effective HIV status disclosure decisions were therefore developed and described and these scales can be used in research to explain, predict, and enhance self-efficacy for these important behaviors. Self-Efficacy for Disclosing