Sexual Risk-Taking Behavior and HIV Knowledge of Kingston's Street Boys

The Influence of Power on HIV Risk Among Pregnant Women in Rural Haiti

“…Research on HIV knowledge in developing countries and the United States have found a weak and inconsistent relationship between HIV knowledge and HIV-risk behavior. Some studies have found a negative relationship between knowledge and sexual risk (e.g., Mbizvo et al, 2003;Peltzer, 2003), while other studies have found no relationship (e.g., James et al, 2004;Park et al, 2002;Robinson et al, 2001). This research suggests that knowledge may not be enough to cause behavior change in these settings.…”

Protective and Risk Factors Associated with Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health in the English-speaking Caribbean: A Literature Review

“…One study noted that females were more likely to use condoms at most recent sexual intercourse, whereas another found that males had greater intentions to use condoms [2,33]. Qualitatively, out-of-school boys stated that their lack of condom use can be attributed to trusting one's partner, not having been taught how to use a condom, and enjoying skin to skin contact; however, these same boys reported that they used condoms when they did not know the partner well [35].…”

“…Peers. The peer environment influenced engagement in sexual activity [30,31,35,38,42]. Youth who perceived their peers to be sexually active, those involved in gangs, and those who felt that their friends would make fun of them if they did not have sex were more likely to be sexually active [30,31,42].…”

“…Youth who perceived their peers to be sexually active, those involved in gangs, and those who felt that their friends would make fun of them if they did not have sex were more likely to be sexually active [30,31,42]. Qualitatively, youth reported that peer pressure played an important role in their engagement in sex [35,38]. In one study, however, youth noted that the pressure might differ by gender, with peers encouraging males and discouraging females from having sex [38].…”

“…Three studies provided a gateway into how the macrosystem might influence engagement in ASRH [35,38,46]. One study assessed the effect of cultural attitudes on STI risk and found that adolescent males who ascribed to cultural attitudes, such as "a boy must have sex to show he is a man," were more likely to report STI symptoms [46].…”