Archives of Sexual Behavior

, Volume 45, Issue 2, pp 451–458 | Cite as

Church Attendance as a Predictor of Number of Sexual Health Topics Discussed Among High-Risk HIV-Negative Black Women

  • Terrinieka T. Williams
  • Latrice C. Pichon
  • Melissa Davey-Rothwell
  • Carl A. Latkin
Original Paper
First Online:
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:

Abstract

Research suggests that sexual health communication is associated with safer sex practices. In this study, we examined the relationship between church attendance and sexual health topics discussed with both friends and sexual partners among a sample of urban Black women. Participants were 434 HIV-negative Black women who were at high risk for contracting HIV through heterosexual sex. They were recruited from Baltimore, Maryland using a network-based sampling approach. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and Audio-Computer-Assisted Self-Interviews. Fifty-four percent of the participants attended church once a month or more (regular attendees). Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that regular church attendance among high-risk HIV-negative Black women was a significant predictor of the number of sexual health topics discussed with both friends (AOR = 1.85, p = .003) and sexual partners (AOR = 1.68, p = .014). Future efforts to reduce HIV incidence among high-risk Black women may benefit from partnerships with churches that equip faith leaders and congregants with the tools to discuss sexual health topics with both their sexual partners and friends.

Keywords

Sexual health communication Church Religion Sexual risk reduction HIV 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank April Nellum for her assistance with manuscript preparation. This work was funded by the National Institute on Mental Health (Grants# R01 MH66810 and 1K01 MH096611-01A1) and the National Institutes on Drug Abuse (Grants# R01 DA031030 and 3R01 DA031030-02S2).

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  • Terrinieka T. Williams
    • 1
  • Latrice C. Pichon
    • 2
  • Melissa Davey-Rothwell
    • 1
  • Carl A. Latkin
    • 1
  1. 1.Bloomberg School of Public HealthJohns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreUSA
  2. 2.University of Memphis School of Public HealthMemphisUSA

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