Dyadic typology of illness perceptions in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Serodiscordant couples

Illness perceptions direct coping resources in the illness adaptation process. Previous studies regarding illness perception profiles have been conducted at the individual level, without considering the couple as a unit. This study aimed to investigate the dyadic topologies of illness perceptions in HIV-serodiscordant couples and the association between the identified profiles and individual- and couple-level outcomes. A comprehensive examination was undertaken, encompassing 231 Chinese HIV-serodiscordant couples, who voluntarily participated in this cross-sectional study during the period spanning June to October 2022. To discern various patterns of illness perception, dyadic latent profile analyses were performed, followed by the implementation of one-way analyses of variance to investigate outcome differences at both the individual and couple levels across the identified profiles. We identified three distinct profiles of illness perception, namely the incongruent-but-low, congruent-but-high, and incongruent-and-high profiles. Except for the partner's sex (p