Negative emotions related to HIV testing may influence an individual's intentions to test for HIV. However, emotion regulation strategies such as cognitive reappraisal which involves reframing the meaning of an event to modify one's emotional response to it may potentially help to regulate these emotions and facilitate decisions to get tested for HIV. In this exploratory study, we examined the association between cognitive reappraisal and HIV testing intentions and whether this association differs by gender. Cross-sectional data were collected from a convenience sample of 157 Latino emerging adults aged 18-25 years living in Arizona and Florida through an online survey. Hierarchical logistic regression models were used to analyze the data. Results indicated that cognitive reappraisal was significantly associated with HIV testing intentions (aOR: 1.44, 95% CI:1.04-1.99) and that this association was specific to females (aOR: 2.48, 95% CI: 1.39-4.43). Our results demonstrate the potential of cognitive reappraisal to facilitate HIV testing intentions among females. HIV prevention interventions should incorporate cognitive reappraisal training to regulate and adapt to the negative emotions associated with HIV testing in efforts to increase HIV testing.
Keywords: HIV testing; Latino/a; cognitive reappraisal; emerging adults; emotion regulation.