Table 1.

HIV stigma constructs and items

Stigma Construct	Description	Source(s)	Measures	Response Scale
Discomfort	Feeling uncomfortable interacting with people with HIV in various community settings (hypothetical)	Herek 1999; Berkley-Patton et al. 2013	Suppose you had a young child who was attending school where one of the students was known to have HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. How would you feel about your child attending that school? Suppose you attended a church and found out that some of the members were HIV-positive. How would you feel about attending that church? How comfortable would you feel about drinking out of a glass in a restaurant if you knew that a few days earlier someone with HIV disease drank out of the same glass, even if it was washed and sterilized? Suppose that you found out that the owner of a small neighborhood grocery store where you liked to shop had HIV. How would you feel about shopping at that store?	Very comfortable Somewhat comfortable Uncertain Somewhat uncomfortable Very uncomfortable
Shame	Feeling shame about being HIV positive (hypothetical)	Kalichman et al. 2005; Simbayi et al. 2007	If I had HIV, I would feel dirty. If I had HIV, I would be ashamed. If I had HIV, I would be concerned that I might be mistreated or discriminated against.	Agree strongly Agree somewhat Uncertain Disagree somewhat Disagree strongly
Rejection	Stigma of being HIV positive (hypothetical)	Lauby et al. 2006	1If you had HIV, people would reject you 2If you had HIV, you might get fired from your job or not be able to get a new job 1If you found out you had HIV, you couldn’t face your family	Agree strongly Agree somewhat Uncertain Disagree somewhat Disagree strongly
Blame	Blaming people with HIV	Herek 1999	Most people with HIV are responsible for having their illness People who got HIV through sex or drug use have gotten what they deserve	Agree strongly Agree somewhat Uncertain Disagree somewhat Disagree strongly