Abstract
This research focused on communication with one's sexual and dating partners, and addressed two main research questions: First, what is the relationship between partner communication and involvement in HIV risk behaviors? Second, which factors predict women's level of partner communication about key issues salient in their lives? Cross-sectional interviews were conducted with 250 adult women living in the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area between August 1997 and August 2000. Street outreach was used to identify potential study participants, with further expansion of the sample done via targeted sampling and ethnographic mapping procedures. Path analysis was used to examine the relationships between partner communication and HIV risk taking, and to identify predictors for the extent of women's partner communication. The data revealed an inverse relationship between partner communication and involvement in HIV risk taking. Eight statistically significant predictors of partner communication were identified: age, marital status, length of longest marital-type relationship, level of happiness in longest relationship, knowing anyone who had died from AIDS, number of financial problems experienced, having a sexually transmitted disease during the previous year, and self-esteem level. Partner communication is an important variable to consider when understanding "at risk" women's HIV risk behavior practices. Finding ways to enhance women's communication with their sexual and dating partners appears to be one promising way of reducing their level of HIV risk.
Published Version
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