Motivations for Sex Among Low-Income African American Young Women

• Published in: Health education & behavior Vol. 40; no. 6; pp. 646 - 650
• Main Authors: Deardorff, Julianna, Suleiman, Ahna Ballonoff, Santo, Teresa S. Dal, Flythe, Michelle, Gurdin, J. Barry, Eyre, Stephen L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.12.2013; Sage Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS); African Americans; African Americans - psychology; At Risk Persons; Biological and medical sciences; Black American people; Brief Report; Condoms; Condoms - utilization; Decision Making; Economic Factors; Expectation; Female; Females; Focus Groups; Health Behavior; HIV; HIV Infections - prevention & control; Human viral diseases; Humans; Immunodeficiencies; Immunodeficiencies. Immunoglobulinopathies; Immunopathology; Infectious diseases; Low Income; Low Income Groups; Low income women; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Motivation; Poverty; Prevention; Prevention and actions; Psychological Patterns; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Qualitative Research; Risk factors; Sexual behavior; Sexuality; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; STD; United States; Unsafe Sex - psychology; Urban Areas; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the lymphoid tissue and the blood. Aids; Women; Women's Health; Young Adult; Young women; United States; United States > US; HIV/AIDS; women’s health; sex behavior; qualitative methods; African American; Human; Immunopathology; Socioeconomic status; Methodology; Sexual behavior; Personal income; Income; Sex; AIDS; Method; Health education; Immune deficiency; Infection; Motivation; Viral disease; Young adult; women's health; Female; Woman; Public health
• ISSN: 1090-1981; 1552-6127
• DOI: 10.1177/1090198112473112

African American young women exhibit higher risk for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, compared with European American women, and this is particularly true for African American women living in low-income contexts. We used rigorous qualitative methods, that is, domain analysis, including free listing (n = 20), similarity assessment (n = 25), and focus groups (four groups), to elicit self-described motivations for sex among low-income African American young women (19-22 years). Analyses revealed six clusters: Love/Feelings, For Fun, Curiosity, Pressured, For Money, and For Material Things. Focus groups explored how African American women interpreted the clusters in light of condom use expectations. Participants expressed the importance of using condoms in risky situations, yet endorsed condom use during casual sexual encounters less than half the time. This study highlights the need for more effective intervention strategies to increase condom use expectations among low-income African American women, particularly in casual relationships where perceived risk is already high.