Associations Between Personality Traits and Patterns of HIV Risk Behaviors Among Young Men Who Have Sex with Men in China

Abstract

This study aimed to ascertain the patterns of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk behaviors among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) and explore the relationships between personality traits and patterns of HIV risk behaviors. Three hundred and seventy-five YMSM were recruited from March to December 2013, in central China. Latent class analysis (LCA) was utilized to identify underlying subgroups of HIV risk behaviors; multinomial logistic regression was used to examine predictors of HIV risk behaviors patterns. LCA identified four latent classes: low risk (LR), moderate risk (MR), high risk (HR), and drug use (DU). YMSM reporting high levels of sexual sensation seeking (SSS) tended to be classified to the MR class [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 2.96, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.33–6.57] and HR class (aOR = 13.77, 95% CI = 3.06–61.96) than the LR class. Those with low degrees of self-control were more likely to be in the HR class (aOR = 4.06, 95% CI = 1.11–14.83) and DU class (aOR = 4.64, 95% CI = 1.50–14.32), compared to LR class. These findings highlight the significance of personality traits on predicting HIV risk behaviors. Future HIV interventions should prioritize YMSM with high SSS and low self-control.