The rate of HIV/AIDS infections among African American men who have sex with men (MSM) is alarming. There has been a challenge in reducing HIV/AIDS among the African American MSM population due to internal and external factors that affect their decision making. The theory of social support and reasoned action were applied to gain knowledge on the lived experiences and perceptions of African American MSM as related to social support and seeking health care, which can help fight the heavy impact HIV/AIDS has placed on this population. Data was collected from 14 African American men who openly identified as MSM. Following the in-depth face-to-face interviews, themes were developed using Miles and Huberman's 6-step analytical process to gather a better understanding from this population's perspective. The participants' responses yielded that, although they felt support should come from family, most judgement came daily from family. Participants indicated that judgement tended to cause them to shy away and hide their sexuality from family and turn to people who were more like themselves whom they could trust. Social support has an impact on positive behaviors and choices as related to health among the African American MSM population. Social support can encourage regular testing among this population as well as provide comfort in discussing risky behaviors to ones' health. Knowing ones' health status helps promote HIV/AIDS awareness which helps decrease the prevalence of HIV/AIDS within the African American MSM population as a whole.

Young African American men who have sex with men (AAMSM) are at greater risk of being infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and less likely to seek HIV testing than are members of other demographic groups. This behavior results in a significant public health threat because young AAMSM with an unrecognized HIV infection are less likely to practice safer sex and, therefore, more likely to pass the infection on to their partners. This study is an examination of the social and personality factors that influence HIV testing rates among young AAMSM, using Aday's model of the social determinants of health and the Big Five model of personality as the theoretical frameworks. A cross-sectional design was employed, and social networks were used to recruit study respondents. Forty-three young AAMSM completed online questionnaires, and multiple regression techniques were used to examine relationships among the variables of interest. Statistical analysis indicated that neither the social risk factors derived from Aday's model nor the Big Five model predicted HIV testing. However, it is unknown whether these nonsignificant findings are attributable to a genuine lack of influence or the unique characteristics of the sample. Given the null results of this study and the mixed findings of prior research, further studies are required to draw conclusions regarding the influence of social and personality factors on HIV testing in this high-risk group. Additional research could be helpful in developing more effective strategies for encouraging HIV testing among young AAMSM. The potential for positive social change lies in slowing the spread of HIV through this vulnerable population and in engaging young AAMSM in the medical system to improve their long-term health prospects.