Psychosocial Phenotype and Risky Sexual Behavior Among People Living with HIV in Changsha: A Latent Profile Analysis.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the psychosocial phenotype and its association with risky sexual behavior to deepen the understanding of the mechanisms of risky sexual behavior (RSB) among people living with HIV.

Methods: Data were collected between October and December 2021 in a cross-sectional study. Participants were 727 people living with HIV from an HIV clinic in a comprehensive hospital and completed a battery of questionnaires. A latent profile approach was utilized to identify the psychosocial phenotype based on depression, stigma, and social support. Multinomial logistic regression was used to investigate the relationship between sexual behaviors and the psychosocial phenotype.

Results: Three distinct phenotypes were identified: a low-risk profile (52.68%), a middle-risk profile (37.96%), and a high-risk profile (9.35%). These profiles exhibited a gradually increasing level of depression and stigma but a decreased level of social support. Participants in the middle-risk profile were twice as likely to engage in risky sexual behavior than those in low-risk profile (OR = 1.924, p = .008).

Conclusions: This study implies the synergistic impact of depression, stigma, and social support on the occurrence of risky sexual behavior among people living with HIV, which may be useful to the early intervention of risky sexual behavior.