Seriously Mentally Ill Women’s Safer Sex Behaviors and the Theory of Reasoned Action

Abstract

Seriously mentally ill women at risk for HIV infection (n = 96) participated in structured interviews assessing sexual and substance use behavior over a 3-month period. The majority of the women (63.5%) did not use condoms. Consistent with the Theory of Reasoned Action, condom use attitudes and perceived social norms about safer sex were associated with safer sex intentions. Supplementing TRA variables with safer sex self-efficacy explained additional variance in safer sex intentions. Greater safer sex intentions were related to both greater condom use and to less frequent unprotected intercourse. In addition, less frequent sex after drug use and a less fatalistic outlook were associated with less frequent unprotected intercourse. Life circumstances specific to this population are particularly important to examine to improve the effectiveness of risk reduction interventions for seriously mentally ill women.

Social support networks among delinquent youth: An 8-year follow-up study

“…Our findings are most similar to those found by Randolph and colleagues who examined the social support networks of chronically mentally ill women (ages 19-63). Randolph et al, defined social support network as individuals they would "talk to for advice or about things that are very personal, private, and related to health" and found that their mean size of social support networks was 1.98 (standard deviation of 1.38) (Randolph et al, 2007). They found that 11.2% reported having no social support network (Randolph et al, 2007), compared with 17.3% in our sample.…”

“…Randolph et al, defined social support network as individuals they would "talk to for advice or about things that are very personal, private, and related to health" and found that their mean size of social support networks was 1.98 (standard deviation of 1.38) (Randolph et al, 2007). They found that 11.2% reported having no social support network (Randolph et al, 2007), compared with 17.3% in our sample. The mean size of social support networks was higher in the three studies of drug-using adults (ranged from 6.8 to 6.9) than our study (Latkin, Forman, Knowlton, & Sherman, 2003;Latkin et al, 1995;Owens & McCrady, 2014).…”

HIV issues and people with disabilities: A review and agenda for research

“…Studies with people with disabilities or staff and key informants report relatively high rates of unsafe sex and other risk behaviours including substance use, transactional sex, and reported incidence of previous sexually transmitted diseases (Blanchett, 2000;Brown et al, 1997;Cambridge, 1996;Carey et al, 1997;Carey et al, 1999;Carey et al, 2001;Carey et al, 2004a;Chandra et al, 2003;Choquet et al, 1997;Chopra et al, 1998;Chuang & Atkinson, 1996;Collins et al, 2008a;Collins et al, 2008b;Davidson et al, 2001;Devieux et al, 2007;Gordon et al, 1999;Grassi et al, 1999a;Grassi et al, 1999b;Kalichman et al, 1994;Katz et al, 1994;Kelly et al, 1992; M A N U S C R I P T A C C E P T E D ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 14 1995; Maart & Jelsma, 2010;Meade & Sikkema, 2007;Meade & Sikkema, 2005;Menon & Pomerantz, 1997;Menon et al, 1994;Myer et al, 2009;Ogunsemi et al, 2006;Olaleye et al, 2007;Otto-Salaj et al, 1998;Randolph et al, 2009;Rohleder, 2010;Smit et al, 2006;Susser et al, 1995;Thompson, 1994;Touko et al, 2010;Vanable et al, 2007;Weinhardt et al, 1998;Walkup et al, 1999).…”

Evaluating family knowledge about sexual health in patients with severe mental illness: a qualitative study in Iran

“…According to the literature, paying more attention to sex education in patients with severe mental illness is recommended. Risky behaviours and substance uses are some risk factors that make these patients prone to sexually transmitted diseases (STD) [4,8,23,24,31,32,35,43]. A recent study in Ethiopia presents some predictors for risky behaviours in these patients including, male gender, illiteracy, bipolarity, history of hospitalization, perceived internal stigma and poor social support [10].…”