This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Britton, P. J. Articles by Lavin, J. P. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Britton, P. J. Articles by Lavin, J. P. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Ambiguity of Monogamy as a Safer-sex Goal Among Single, Pregnant, Inner-city Women

Monogamy by Whose Definition?

John Carroll University, Cleveland, OH, USA

Oneida H. Levine

Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, USA

Anita P. Jackson

Kent State University, USA

Stevan E. Hobfoll

Kent State University, USA

James B. Shepherd

Kent State University, USA

Justin P. Lavin

Akron City Hospital, USA

We examined the ambiguity of monogamy as a safer-sex goal in a sample of young, inner- city women (N = 447), of whom 58 percent were African- American and 42 percent European-American. It was our premise that women may be misperceiving and underestimating their risk due to differences in their definition and beliefs about monogamy, and thus are not changing their behavior. When compared to long-term monogamous women (self-reporting one partner in the past year), serially monogamous women (reporting two or more partners in the past year) perceived themselves at greater risk but did not report more frequent use of condoms. It is possible that a suggestion of monogamy may be subject to multiple interpretations and thus could be providing women with a false sense of safety. Risk reduction should be defined in specific behavioral terms.

Key Words: HIV/AIDS prevention • HIV/ AIDS risk • inner-city women, monogamy • safer sex

Journal of Health Psychology, Vol. 3, No. 2, 227-232 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/135910539800300206


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?