Determinants of HIV/AIDS Risk Behaviors in Expectant Fathers in Haiti

Abstract

Haiti has an HIV/AIDS epidemic of the highest magnitude outside of sub-Saharan Africa. Factors such as relationship power imbalances, traditional gender role acceptance, and patriarchal belief systems that devalue women's sexuality have increased Haitian women's vulnerability to HIV infection. Because of these influences and since the HIV epidemic is largely heterosexually transmitted, it is important to understand the role that men's beliefs and behaviors play in the continuing risk of young men and women in Haiti. The purpose of this study was to gather information from male community members through semi-structured interviews in order to describe the prevalence of HIV/AIDS risk behaviors (e.g., condom use, number of sexual partners) among expectant fathers in Haiti and identify predictive psychosocial variables of HIV/AIDS risk behaviors. Results from this study showed that men who were not married (OR = 0.22, p = 0.05) and men who had medium (OR = 22.50, p < 0.001) and high sexual communication (OR = 36.51, p < 0.001) were more likely to use condoms. This study also showed that high stigma associated with HIV (OR = 16.07, p < 0.05), low HIV knowledge (OR = 0.10, p < 0.01), and high decision making power (OR = 62.52, p < 0.001) were predictors of multiple sex partners for the expectant fathers in the sample. HIV prevention programs should be designed to increase knowledge about HIV transmission, treatment, prevention and personal risk of contraction as well as correct misconceptions about individuals with HIV or AIDS and promote sex communication among partners.

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

“…Whereas the DMD subscale has not been utilized with South African females due to actual or perceived poor psychometric properties, one study administered the DMD to South African males and reported Cronbach’s alpha of 0.91 (Kaufman et al, 2008). Magee (Magee, Small, Frederic, Joseph, & Kershaw, 2006) also found adequate internal consistency (alpha=0.71) of the DMD administered to a sample of adult Haitian men. Reliability estimates for the RC subscale for South African males have generally mirrored those for South African females, with one exception.…”

“…This may be due to the younger developmental stage of intimate relationships in adolescents, where dyadic decision-making has different focal points. Roye et al (2010) reported poor factorability (KMO=0.56) and the emergence of three separate sub-factors within the DMD, and numerous studies have removed items from the original 8-item subscale due to low factor-item correlation (Kaufman et al, 2008; Kershaw et al, 2006; Magee et al, 2006; Panchanadeswaran et al, 2010; Roye et al, 2012; Shannon et al, 2012; Weeks et al, 2010). The DMD also displays inconsistent construct validity.…”

Discrimination against HIV-Infected People and the Spread of HIV: Some Evidence from France

“…There is no doubt that stigma amplifies the complexities of living with HIV [2]. Moreover, there is some empirical evidence that stigma, discrimination and fear of both may contribute to an increase in HIV-related risk behaviours among both the HIV-positive [3]–[6] and HIV-negative [7]–[10] populations. Policy recommendations by international organisations in charge of the fight against the AIDS pandemic make explicit reference to this evidence by establishing a strong link between HIV prevention and access to HIV treatment and care on the one hand, and efforts targeted at reducing stigma against PLWHAs on the other hand [11]–[12].…”

Sexual Relationship Power and Semen Exposure Among Female Patients at a Sexually Transmitted Infection Clinic in Kingston, Jamaica

“…Of the seven studies that reported on the relationship between the SRPS-M (or its modified subscales) and condom use, only two found a statistically significant association (Pulerwitz, et al, 2002). The remainder either did not find the modified scale or modified subscales to be predictive of condom use (Koblin, et al, 2010; Magee, Small, Frederic, Joseph, & Kershaw, 2006; Tietelman, Ratcliffe, Morales-Aleman, & Sullivan, 2008; Weeks, et al, 2010) or found an inconsistent relationship (Campbell, et al, 2009). To test the robustness of our study findings, we repeated our analyses using each of the two modified subscales as the independent variable and found no difference in the interpretations of our results (data not shown).…”