title: Ethnicity, serostatus, and psychosocial differences in sexual risk behavior among HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative women.
abstract: Childhood sexual abuse and related life traumas, and other psychosocial variables were investigated as contributors to ethnic differences in sexual risk behaviors among women who differed in HIV-serostatus. A multiethnic sample of 457 HIV-positive and HIV-negative women residing in Los Angeles county was recruited and studied over 2 years as part of the UCLA-Charles R. Drew University Women and Family Project (WFP) study. Comprehensive interviews were administered to participants by ethnically- and linguistically matched interviewers. Data on demographic information, sexual trauma, substance abuse/dependence, psychiatric distress, and sexual history and risk behaviors were collected. The sample for these analyses consisted of 155 African American, 153 European American, and 149 Latina women, and nearly two-thirds of the sample was HIV-seropositive. HIV-positive women were significantly more likely to report more posttraumatic stress, chronic stress, negative health behaviors, drug use, and psychiatric history than HIV-negative women. European American and African American women were more likely to report a history of sexual trauma than Latina women. Finally, Poisson regression analyses revealed that history of trauma, ethnicity, drug and alcohol use, homelessness, and being HIV-positive were associated with greater likelihood of engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors, with history of trauma increasing the likelihood of engaging in high-risk behaviors by 5.1%. These findings highlight important differences among women as a function of ethnicity and HIV status, and underscore the need for special services for HIV-positive women that address the risk-enhancing effects of substance abuse/dependence, homelessness, and sexual trauma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Center for AIDS Research, Education and Services, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, California 90059, USA. kepaxton@cdrewu.edu
authors.forename: Keisha Carr
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Paxton
authors.forename: Hector F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.forename: Naomi M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: Marjan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Javanbakht
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003710:Demography; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D018023:HIV Seronegativity; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011584:Psychology; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires