Young people, ages 15-24, are at the greatest risk of acute HIV infection and thus will determine the future course of the epidemic. Most programs to prevent sexual transmission of HIV among youth ignore the mediating influence of sexual and physical violence. This study uses secondary data from more than 15 recent African Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) to examine the association between partner violence norms and youth HIV risk and preventive behaviors in sub-Saharan Africa. Spatial analysis methods are applied to determine whether violence norms and HIV risk and preventive behaviors co-vary in low (<10%) and high (= 10%) prevalence countries. Multilevel, multivariable analyses are performed to assess whether youth risk and preventive behaviors for HIV are associated with individual and regional-level violence norms, controlling for other factors associated with youth risk and preventive behaviors. Multivariate findings will be compared between countries with low and high prevalence of HIV. It is hypothesized that violence norms and HIV preventive behaviors will covary at the aggregate level in high prevalence countries. Among female youth, the association between violence and HIV risk and preventive behaviors is hypothesized to be significant in both high and low prevalence countries, reflecting the multiple influences of gender, violence, and risk exposure among female youth. The association between regional-level violence norms and HIV risk and preventive behaviors among female youth is expected to remain significant in multilevel, multivariate models that control for the youth's own perceptions of violence norms and other factors associated with youth risk-taking. The information from this study can be used to make recommendations on strategies to reduce youth violence risk with the underlying objective of strengthening HIV prevention programs for youth. This study uses data from more than 15 recent African Demographic and Health Surveys to examine the association between partner violence norms and youth HIV risk and preventive behaviors in sub-Saharan Africa. Among female youth, violence is hypothesized to affect HIV risk and preventive behaviors, reflecting the multiple influences of gender, violence, and risk exposure among female youth. The information from this study can be used to make recommendations on strategies to reduce youth violence risk with the underlying objective of strengthening HIV prevention programs for youth. ? ? ?
| Speizer, Ilene S; Gomez, Anu Manchikanti; Stewart, James et al. (2011) Community-level HIV risk behaviors and HIV prevalence among women and men in Zimbabwe. AIDS Educ Prev 23:437-47 |
| Speizer, Ilene S (2010) Intimate partner violence attitudes and experience among women and men in Uganda. J Interpers Violence 25:1224-41 |
