Strides towards Establishing Temporality of Associations between Social factors, Behaviors, and Sexual Risk Purposed to Enhance HIV Prevention Strategies Tailored to African American Women

Aim: To explore behavioral associations identified over 1-decade of research on the sexual behaviors of populations at significant risk for HIV, African American women, to inform HIV prevention strategies.

Methods: A thorough review and investigation of literature on predictors of high risk behaviors informs how attention to culture and gender may increase intervention efficacy and improve health outcomes for populations who actively engage in high risk behaviors.

Results: Findings of ten years of research demonstrate that demographic factors like gender and race coupled with sexual behaviors work in concert to worsen existing vulnerabilities to new HIV cases among African American women.

Conclusion: Development and adaptation of theoretically and culturally grounded, prevention and intervention strategies targeting high risk substance use and sexual behaviors among African American women are warranted.