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Partnership-Level Analysis of African American Women’s Risky Sexual Behavior in Main and Non-Main Partnerships

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Abstract

The majority of research on risky sexual behavior in African American women has examined global associations between individual-level predictors and behavior. However, this method obscures the potentially significant impact of the specific relationship or relationship partner on risky sexual behavior. To address this gap, we conducted partnership-level analysis of risky sexual behavior among 718 African American women recruited from HIV counseling, testing, and referral sites in four states. Using mixed model regressions, we tested relationships between condomless vaginal intercourse with men and variables drawn from the Theory of Planned Behavior, Theory of Gender and Power, and previous research specifically on sexual risks among African American women. Significant associations with risky sexual behavior indicate the need for continued emphasis on condom attitudes, condom negotiation behaviors, and overcoming partner resistance to condoms within both main and non-main partnerships when implementing interventions designed to address HIV and sexually transmitted infection risks among African American women.

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Acknowledgments

Funding was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health, Grant Number R01-MH089828. Preparation of this manuscript was provided in part by was supported, in part, by an NRSA postdoctoral training Grant (T32-MH19985) from the National Institute of Mental Health, and Center Grant P30-MH52776. We’d like to thank Tim McAuliffe and Sergey Tarima for advice regarding the analysis plan. Finally, we’d like to thank the four participating agencies in Missouri, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Texas, and our participants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for AIDS Intervention Research, Medical College of Wisconsin, 2071 N. Summit Ave., Milwaukee, WI, 53202, USA

    Michelle Broaddus, Steven Pinkerton & Cassandra Wright

  2. Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Jill Owczarzak

  3. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Maria Pacella

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  1. Michelle Broaddus
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  2. Jill Owczarzak
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  3. Maria Pacella
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  4. Steven Pinkerton
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  5. Cassandra Wright
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Correspondence to Michelle Broaddus.

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Broaddus, M., Owczarzak, J., Pacella, M. et al. Partnership-Level Analysis of African American Women’s Risky Sexual Behavior in Main and Non-Main Partnerships. AIDS Behav 20, 2893–2903 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-016-1351-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-016-1351-8

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