The proposed project will examine the effect of demographic and contextual variables (family, peers, church, etc.) on the construction of sexuality and gender roles, and their effect on sexual negotiation and safer sex practices among Puerto Rican university students (both men and women). The conceptual model suggests that both socio-demographic and contextual variables influence the construction of gender roles and sexuality. The perceptions which in turn influence sexual negotiation that permit a partner to avoid unprotected sexual intercourse and instead engage in safer sexual practices. Our model also predicts factors that influence the frequency with which one engages in safer sexual practices, particularly condom use. The study aims to 1) identify and examine the contextual variables that determine and influence the construction of sexuality and gender roles: 2) study how the construction of sexuality and gender mediates the relationship between contextual variables and negotiation, as well as safer sex practices. 3) refine and test a conceptual model which explains the relationship between contextual variables, gender roles, the construction of sexuality, sexual negotiation and safer sex practices. and 4) develop and pretest a curriculum for an intervention aimed at enabling young men and women to negotiate more successfully and to enhance safer sex practices by facilitating their understanding of how their normative beliefs and perceived norms about gender roles and sexuality affect their behavior. Several methodologies will be used, including focus group discussions using thirty different focus groups with participants chosen on the basis of sex, sex of sexual partner, and frequency of safer sex practices, to determine what factors may be related to sexuality and gender roles: in-depth interviews with 300 participants chosen because they are sexually active, to delineate perception of gender roles and sexuality, and a survey of 3,000 university students chosen in stratified (by faculty) random clusters (by classroom) to generalize the results found in the in-depth interviews to a larger sample of people. Also, an intervention curriculum based on these findings of the perceptions and effects of sexuality and gender roles will be developed and tested to determine its utility as a prevention tool. If the intervention is effective, several other modules will be developed on this same basis. Data already gathered in three large surveys will be analyzed based on hypotheses derived from the conceptual model. Instruments to be used in the other stages of this study will be tested with stratified random cluster samples, as in the survey. All participants will be students of the University of Puerto Rico, both male and female.
| Pérez-Jiménez, David; Seal, David Wyatt; Ronis, David L (2014) A Pilot Intervention to Promote Safer Sex in Heterosexual Puerto Rican Couples. Couple Family Psychol 3:193-206 |
| Reyes-Rodriguez, Mae Lynn; Rivera-Medina, Carmen L; Camara-Fuentes, Luis et al. (2013) Depression symptoms and stressful life events among college students in Puerto Rico. J Affect Disord 145:324-30 |
| Pérez-Jiménez, David; Orengo-Aguayo, Rosaura E (2012) Rev Puertorriquena Psicol 23:48-61 |
| Bauermeister, José J; Barkley, Russell A; Bauermeister, José A et al. (2012) Validity of the sluggish cognitive tempo, inattention, and hyperactivity symptom dimensions: neuropsychological and psychosocial correlates. J Abnorm Child Psychol 40:683-97 |
| Pérez-Jiménez, David; Orengo-Aguayo, Rosaura E (2011) Qualitative analysis of an educational intervention with HIV-discordant heterosexual Latino couples. P R Health Sci J 30:188-94 |
| Rivera-Medina, Carmen L; Caraballo, José Noel; Rodríguez-Cordero, Elí R et al. (2010) Factor structure of the CES-D and measurement invariance across gender for low-income Puerto Ricans in a probability sample. J Consult Clin Psychol 78:398-408 |
| Hernandez-Hernandez, Alberto L; Perez-Jimenez, David (2010) [Barriers and Facilitators in the Recruitment and Retention of Heterosexual Couples for Preventive Interventions.] Interam J Psychol 44:19-27 |
| Pérez-Jiménez, David; Escabí Montalvo, Aracelis; Del Carmen Cabrera Aponte, María (2010) Desarrollo de una intervención grupal para la prevención del VIH en parejas heterosexuales. Rev Puertorriquena Psicol 21:7-34 |
| Santiago-Rivas, Marimer; Perez-Jimenez, David (2009) Modeling HIV Prevention Strategies among Two Puerto Rican Samples. Interam J Psychol 43:333-339 |
| Perez-Jimenez, David; Seal, David W; Serrano-Garcia, Irma (2009) Barriers and facilitators of HIV prevention with heterosexual Latino couples: beliefs of four stakeholder groups. Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol 15:11-7 |
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