Testing the Effectiveness of Two Psychosocial Interventions on Socio-Cognitive Risk Factors for HIV/AIDS in Mozambican Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Factors influencing self-efficacy for self-management among adult people with human immune deficiency virus on antiretroviral therapy in public hospitals of south-west Ethiopia

INTRODUCTION

Self-management is crucial for effective HIV management, and self-efficacy is a mechanism for achieving it, but there is limited evidence on variables that affect self-efficacy. This study aimed to identify factors influencing self-efficacy for self-management among adults on antiretroviral therapy in resource constraint settings.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 422 adult people on antiretroviral therapy in southwest Ethiopia from March to April 2022. Face-to-face interviews were used to gather data using a structured questionnaire on the self-efficacy measure. The data were then imported into Epi Data version 4.2 and exported to SPSS version 26. Descriptive statistics, independent tests, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation, and multivariate linear regression were used to analyze the data. The predictors with p-value of less than 0.05 were declared statistically significant.

RESULTS

A total of 413 adults on antiretroviral therapy were interviewed with response rate of 97.9%. The total mean score of self-efficacy for self-management was 15.12 (±2.22) out of 24. Higher age, gender of the female, divorced, duration of diagnosis, and drug side effects were negatively predictors of low self-efficacy. Higher schooling, urban residence, better income, and the use of reminders positively influenced self-efficacy for self-management.

CONCLUSION

The study found low self-efficacy among adults on antiretroviral therapy and higher age, female gender, HIV duration, and presence of drug side effects were associated with lower self-efficacy, while higher schooling, better income, and use of reminder use were associated with higher self-efficacy for self-management. Further research is needed to determine the causal relationship between these variables and self-efficacy.

Testing the effectiveness of two psychosocial interventions - ACCENT and Didactic - to prevent HIV/AIDS behavioral risk factors in Mozambican women: a randomized controlled study

In Mozambique, women are the most affected by HIV/AIDS and heterosexual encounters remain the main route for HIV/AIDS. Condom use is the most effective method of HIV/AIDS prevention, and the intention to use and buy/get condoms has a significant role in safe sex behavior. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of two psychosocial interventions - the Didactic and ACCENT Interventions - to prevent HIV/AIDS among Mozambican Women. Participants were Mozambican women (n = 150), users of the gynecology clinic of the Central Hospital of Beira. The study design was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with assignment to three groups: Didactic intervention, ACCENT intervention, and Control group. Measures were from an adaption of the Women's Health Questionnaire, which includes questions about sociodemographic, clinical, and behavioral variables related to HIV prevention/risk. There was a significant group effect on condom use and safer sex preparatory behaviors, F(2, 146) = 6.45, p = .002, with Bonferroni post-hoc tests showing differences between the ACCENT vs. Control groups and ACCENT vs. Didactic groups (all p = .022). There were no statistically significant time effects on both condom use and safer sex preparatory behaviors. Results are promising for HIV/AIDS prevention in Mozambican women at sexual risk, but replication is needed for generalizability of findings.

Determinants of intimate partner controlling behavior targeting women in Türkiye

Background/aim

Intimate partner controlling behavior toward women is an important form of intimate partner violence (IPV), both in terms of limiting women's daily lives and in terms of reproducing patriarchal culture and male dominance in societies at the micro level. A limited number of studies in the literature have identified the male intimate partner's controlling behavior as a dependent variable, which is important for understanding the determinants of this type of IPV. There is also a significant gap in the literature in terms of studies focusing on the case of Türkiye. Thus, the main aim of this study was to determine the socio-demographic, economic and violence-related factors that have an effect on women's status in terms of exposure to control behavior in Türkiye.

Methods

These factors were examined by using binary logistic regression analysis, based on the micro data set collected by the Hacettepe University's Institute of Population Studies in the 2014-dated National Research on Domestic Violence against Women in Türkiye. A total of 7,462 women between the ages of 15 and 59 were interviewed face-to-face.

Results

The findings of the study revealed that women are more likely to be exposed to controlling behavior if they live in rural areas, are unmarried, speak Turkish as their mother tongue, have bad or very bad health conditions, justify men's violence and are afraid of their intimate partners. As women's age, level of education and income contribution increase, their likelihood of exposure to controlling behavior decreases. However, women's exposure to economic, physical and emotional violence also increases their likelihood of exposure to controlling behavior.

Conclusion

The findings highlighted the importance of creating public policies that make women less vulnerable to men's controlling behavior, providing women with methods and mechanisms of resistance and raising public awareness of the exacerbating effects of controlling behavior on social inequalities.

Vulnerability to human immunodeficiency virus infection and associated factors among married women in northwest Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

PURPOSE

This study investigated the vulnerability to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and associated factors among married women in northwest Ethiopia.

METHODS

A community-based cross-sectional survey (n=657) was conducted from April 1 to 15,2020, in Metema District, northwest Ethiopia, in four randomly selected kebele administrations (thelowest level of local government). The inclusion criteria were married women aged ≥18 years residing with their husbands. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associatedwith married women's vulnerability to HIV infection.

RESULTS

Participants were on average 33.70±9.50 years and nearly one-fourth (n=148, 22.5%) wereidentified as vulnerable to HIV infection (i.e., experienced sexually transmitted disease symptoms oran extramarital affair of either spouse within the past 12 months). Only 18.9% reported sexual communication with their husband. Respondents who did not discuss the risk of HIV infection withtheir husbands had fivefold odds of vulnerability (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 5.02; 95% confidenceinterval [CI], 1.43-17.5). Those who did not have premarital sex (AOR, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.05-0.77)had no worries about HIV infection (AOR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.08-0.94), sufficient income (AOR,0.56; 95% CI, 0.16-0.86), and less than four children (AOR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.50-0.97) had decreased odds of being vulnerable to HIV than their counterparts.

CONCLUSION

Not discussing risk of HIV infection with husband was a major factor of vulnerabilityto HIV infection as was premarital sex, worry about HIV, income, and number of children. Measuresto strengthen couple's sexual communication and support economical stability is important for decreasing HIV vulnerability.

Controlling risky behavior associated with AIDS: the role of social support, family functioning, self-efficacy and AIDS risk perception

OBJECTIVES

We believe that major steps can be taken towards Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) prevention through identifying the relevant factors that are apt to predict risky behavior. The main purpose of the present study was to analyze and evaluate the relationship of social support, family functioning, self-efficacy and AIDS risk perception to controlling risky behavior associated with AIDS.

METHODS

To conduct this cross-sectional study, 765 subjects (59% female) were selected from the youth inhabiting the western provinces of Iran through cluster sampling. Five questionnaires were used: AIDS risk perception, self-efficacy in controlling risky behavior associated with AIDS, controlling risky behavior associated with AIDS, the multidimensional scale of perceived social support, and the family assessment device.

RESULTS

The results demonstrated that all two models enjoyed acceptable fitness, and the mediating roles of self-efficacy and AIDS risk perception were confirmed. Moreover, family functioning and perceived social support together could predict 20% of the variance of controlling risky behavior associated with AIDS. The results also indicated that family functioning with a standardized coefficient of - 0.24 and self-efficacy in controlling risky behavior associated with AIDS with a standardized coefficient of 0.58 could predict the controlling risky behavior associated with AIDS (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that self-efficacy and AIDS risk perception play major roles in controlling risky behavior associated with AIDS. Therefore, it is recommended that families and psychologists promote self-efficacy in order to prevent the occurrence of high-risk behaviors.