title: The impact of a national poverty reduction program on the characteristics of sex partners among Kenyan adolescents.
abstract: Cash transfer programs have the potential to prevent the spread of HIV, particularly among adolescents. One mechanism through which these programs may work is by influencing the characteristics of the people adolescents choose as sex partners. We examined the four-year impact of a Kenyan cash transfer program on partner age, partner enrollment in school, and transactional sex-based relationships among 684 adolescents. We found no significant impact of the program on partner characteristics overall, though estimates varied widely by gender, age, schooling, and economic status. Results highlight the importance of context in exploring the potential HIV preventive effects of cash transfers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA, msr2a@email.unc.edu.
authors.forename: Molly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rosenberg
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pettifor
authors.forename: Harsha
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Thirumurthy
authors.forename: Carolyn Tucker
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Halpern
authors.forename: Sudhanshu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Handa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D011203:Poverty / Q000191:economics / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011632:Public Assistance / Q000191:economics*; D012201:Reward; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D012574:Schools; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D012747:Sexual Partners; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors