Johnson, Renee and Cottler (2002) sought to understand the various factors that influence the rate at which African American women are susceptible to HIV AIDS. They claim that the disease has adverse effects on the African American community, especially on women where the women comprise of over two thirds of all the women affected by the disease. The study is done to test the hypothesis that women engaged in risky sexual behaviors are more at risk of having the full tripartite of risk factors such as violence, drugs and depression, than thaeir counterparts who have no risky sexual behaviors.
The method used in the survey was purposeful sampling. The sample of 420 women was obtained from the St. Louis EOTO project, a study aimed at assessing the risk behaviors and reduction of these behaviors among the drug users. The data was collected with the help of the Community Health Outreach Workers. The demographic characteristics of the participants were collected and then they were grouped into four exclusive groups depending on their rate of susceptibility. Since all the participants were drug users, the first group consisted of those with violence exposure and no depression, the second group had no violence exposure but had depression, the third group had drug using women with both violence exposure or depression while the last group had women with neither depression nor violence. The data was then analyzed using the SAS 6.12 statistical package and the Chi-square as well as ANOVA procedures.
Johnson, Renee and Cottler (2002) effectively support their hypothesis. They found out that 100% of the women were drug users. Therefore this was not a major concern. In terms of violence, it was discovered that rape was at 17% and physical assault 8%. Therefore, 25% of the participants met the criteria for violence exposure. In depression, major depressive disorder was found in 16% of the women while 8% met other criteria, translating to 24% who met the criteria fro depressive susceptibility. In the risky sexual behaviors, over 50 percent had engaged in vaginal sex without a condom while 53 percent had engaged in sex trade. 34 had had multiple partners while 67% had had sex immediately after or while using drugs. In general, the risky sexual behaviors were prevalent.
Reference
Johnson, Sharon D., Williams, Renee M. Cunningham, & Cottler, Linda B. (2002). A Tripartite of HIV risk for African American Women: The Intersection of Drug Use, Violence, and Depression. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Vol. 70(2). May 2003, pp. 169-175. Retrieved on 28th Jan 2012 from http://www.sciencedirect.com.libproxy.ggc.usg.edu/science/article/pii/S0376871602003459
