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Correlates of HIV Testing among African American and Latino Church Congregants: The Role of HIV Stigmatizing Attitudes and Discussions about HIV

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An Erratum to this article was published on 10 March 2015

Abstract

Faith-based organizations can be key settings in which to reach African Americans and Latinos for HIV prevention, but little is known regarding factors that predict congregants’ HIV testing behaviors. We examined the extent to which sociodemographic factors, HIV-related cues to action (e.g., knowing someone who is HIV-positive), and the social climate surrounding HIV (stigma toward a hypothetical HIV-positive congregant, HIV-related discussions at church about abstinence, condoms, and testing) were associated with willingness to be tested in church and with ever having been tested among 1211 African American and Latino congregants. Multivariate analyses indicated that congregants were more open to church-based testing if they were younger and had discussed condoms at church. They were less open if they expressed stigmatizing attitudes toward a hypothetical congregant. Foreign-born Latinos with low English proficiency were more willing to be tested at church than were African Americans. Congregants were more likely to have ever been tested if they were younger, African American, female, or married; if they knew someone who was HIV-positive; and if they had discussed testing and condoms at church. They were less likely if they had discussed abstinence. Open dialogue around HIV may activate congregants to be more receptive to church-based prevention.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Grant Number 1 R01 HD050150 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD; K Derose, PI). We are grateful to members of the study’s Community Advisory Board, especially the co-chairs Michael Mata, MA, MCP, MDiv, and Clyde W. Oden, OD, MPH, MBA, MDiv. We also thank Karen R. Flórez, DrPH, MPH, Frances Aunon, BA, and Alexandria Smith MPH, for their contributions to the analysis team, and Jennifer Hawes-Dawson, BA, Alexandria Felton, MPH, and Blanca X. Domínguez, MPH for help with data collection. In addition, we would like to express our gratitude to the churches and individuals who participated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Laura M. Bogart

  2. RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA, USA

    Kathryn Pitkin Derose, David E. Kanouse, Beth Ann Grifin, Ann C. Haas & Malcolm V. Williams

  3. Boston Children’s Hospital, Division of General Pediatrics, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Laura M. Bogart

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  1. Laura M. Bogart
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  2. Kathryn Pitkin Derose
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Correspondence to Laura M. Bogart.

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Bogart, L.M., Derose, K.P., Kanouse, D.E. et al. Correlates of HIV Testing among African American and Latino Church Congregants: The Role of HIV Stigmatizing Attitudes and Discussions about HIV. J Urban Health 92, 93–107 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-014-9927-y

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