Risk Revisited: The Perception of HIV Risk in a Community Sample of Low-Income African American Women

Abstract

Despite the high rate of HIV infection among low-income African American women, research suggests that perceptions of HIV risk among this population are not elevated compared to other groups. It is evident that an individual’s subjective perception of risk is based on a multiplicity of both internal and external factors, including relationship context and cultural worldview. This study examines the contribution of cultural worldview to low-income African American women’s HIV risk perception. A hierarchical linear regression was conducted on a community sample of low-income African American women (N = 196). Results demonstrate that when partner infidelity was controlled, financial independence and interpersonal control were significant predictors of perceived HIV risk, with lack of power related to elevated levels of perceived risk. When relationship power and HIV knowledge were taken into account, cultural worldview was a significant negative predictor of perceived risk, with high levels of fatalism associated with low perceived risk. Findings suggest that knowledge alone is not enough to explain HIV risk perception. The role of cultural worldview must be taken into account.

What HIV-Positive Young Women Want from Behavioral Interventions: A Qualitative Approach

“…While many of the challenges and concerns identified in this study are similar to other studies of young, HIV-positive populations (i.e., challenges with self esteem, HIV disclosure, rejection and lack of support and condom negotiation) [36][37][38][39] the findings are unique in that the target population directly informed future intervention content and requested an intervention that is multidimensional, comprehensive, and tailored to their gender and age.…”

“…While this phenomena has been researched among men who have sex with men, MSM, and a little among African American females, little to no research has been focused on why this may be occurring among men who have sex with women. 37,39,[45][46][47][48] It would be useful to know if some of the same factors and perceptions that contribute to unprotected sex among MSM and African American females are contributing to men who have sex with females, such as perceptions of HIV risk, fatalism, optimistic bias, cultural worldviews and power. 37,[45][46][47][48] While comprehensive gender responsive HIV prevention programs for young women are needed, exploring the factors and perceptions of young men who have sex with women may help to inform how HIV prevention interventions should promote safe sex for both young men and women in relationships.…”

HIV Sexual Risk Behavior in Older Black Women: A Systematic Review

“…For instance, older Black women did not perceive their own risk for HIV and their beliefs were associated with lack of HIV awareness, monogamy and other relational factors. This corresponds with the findings in existing literature which propose that knowledge deficit of HIV risk and low perceived susceptibility to HIV are barriers to HIV prevention efforts as it makes it difficult for older Black women to enact self-protective behaviors (Corneille et al, 2008; Young, Salem, & Bybee, 2010; Zablotsky & Kennedy, 2003). Lack of knowledge regarding HIV risk in this population may be ascribed to the notion that their formal education preceded the emergence of the HIV epidemic and the sexual education that followed it…”

A Systematic Review of the Psychometric Properties of the Sexual Relationship Power Scale in HIV/AIDS Research

“…The South African version combined selected SRPS items with items from a different gender scale (Dunkle et al, 2007). Ten studies combined subsets of items from RC and DMD subscales to create a new scale (Amaro et al, 2007; Jones & Gulick, 2009; Kaufman, Shefer, Crawford, Simbayi, & Kalichman, 2008; Operario, Nemoto, Iwamoto, & Moore, 2011a, 2011b; Pettifor, Measham, Rees, & Padian, 2004; Younge, Salem, & Bybee, 2010). However, moderate types of adaptations, such as dropping items from the scale due to concerns about negative emotional reactions by participants (Ragsdale, Gore-Felton, Koopman, & Seal, 2009) or the irrelevance of certain items to specific populations (Ketchen, Armistead, & Cook, 2009), were found to be more common.…”

“…Response sets were often modified from the original, such as expanding the Likert scale to include a neutral response or more responses (Beckman et al, 2006; Teitelman, Ratcliffe, Morales-Aleman, & Sullivan, 2008; Younge et al, 2010), dichotomizing responses (Parrado, Flippen, & McQuiston, 2005; Pettifor et al, 2004), or reflecting the Likert scores (Buelna, Ulloa, & Ulibarri, 2009; Filson, Ulloa, Runfola, & Hokoda, 2010). Scoring variations were reported in several articles, most often in light of non-normal sample distributions, response set modifications, and cultural contexts.…”