Expected versus actual responses to disclosure in relationships of HIV‐positive African American adolescent females

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Abstract
Ten HIV‐positive African American adolescent females were interviewed regarding disclosure of their HIV infection in various relationships. Communication Boundary Management (Petronio, 1991) provided a framework for understanding disclosure patterns in these relationships. Participants described expected (n = 113) and actual (n = 94) responses to disclosing an HIV diagnosis. The findings indicate that expected response and the target of disclosure affect adolescents’ disclosure decisions. Participants expected targets of disclosure to respond as follows: experience negative emotional reactions, provide support, treat them differently, tell others, or were unsure of a target's response. On the basis of these findings, five themes were identified related to actual responses to disclosure of HIV infection: different treatment, negative emotional reaction, received support, target told others, and treated no differently. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.