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Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Black and Puerto Rican Women in Their Late Thirties: A Brief Report

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Abstract

In New York City, over 90% of women newly diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are Black and Latina; a quarter of these infections occur among 30–39 year-olds. A survey was administered to 343 Black and Puerto Rican women (2014–2016) to examine two HIV infection risk factors: relationship exclusivity and having experienced childhood sexual abuse (CSA). A majority of male partners (69.7%) had at least one risk for HIV transmission. Women in non-exclusive sexual relationships (nESRs) had higher-risk partners, but engaged in safer sex practices than those in ESRs. Two-thirds of women in ESRs (64.8%) reported unprotected vaginal intercourse, although 33.5% had partners with a history of concurrent relationships. Among women in nESRs, having experienced CSA was a strong risk factor for HIV infection. Black and Latina women’s vulnerability to HIV infection is significant, even when in exclusive relationships. Safer sex counseling should be integrated in primary care.

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Funding

This research was supported by Grant R01DA035408 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded to Judith S. Brook and Kerstin Pahl.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Social Solutions & Services Research, The Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA

    Kerstin Pahl, Jung Yeon Lee & Helen-Maria Lekas

  2. Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, 215 Lexington Avenue, 15th floor, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Kerstin Pahl, Jung Yeon Lee, Judith S. Brook & Jewel Winters

  3. Division of Biostatistics, Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, 650 First Avenue, 5th floor, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Jung Yeon Lee

  4. NYU College of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Ariadna Capasso

Authors
  1. Kerstin Pahl
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  2. Jung Yeon Lee
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  3. Ariadna Capasso
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  4. Helen-Maria Lekas
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  5. Judith S. Brook
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  6. Jewel Winters
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jung Yeon Lee.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional review board and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Pahl, K., Lee, J.Y., Capasso, A. et al. Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Black and Puerto Rican Women in Their Late Thirties: A Brief Report. J Immigrant Minority Health 21, 1432–1435 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-019-00877-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-019-00877-7

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