The Inescapable Effects of Parent Support on Black Males and HIV Testing
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The Inescapable Effects of Parent Support on Black Males and HIV Testing Donte T. Boyd 1
&
Camille R. Quinn 2 & Gabrielle A. Aquino 1
Received: 25 September 2019 / Revised: 11 December 2019 / Accepted: 13 December 2019 # W. Montague Cobb-NMA Health Institute 2020
Abstract Focusing on parental communication is a promising way to extend the reach of HIV-related interventions and prevention programs to underserved adolescents and their families in the US. One highly relevant population in need of services is Black males who constitute more than one-third of all new HIV infection cases in the US. We sought to determine whether the family context (i.e., parent support, parent relationships) impacted HIV testing over time. For this study, we used the first and third waves of the Add Health restricted dataset from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health of Black males (average age 16.1 years). Descriptive statistics found that over 75% of the sample had never been tested for HIV/AIDS, while only 58% reported using a condom. Bivariate regression analysis followed by multinomial analysis was conducted to identify the factors that were associated with the likelihood of one-time or continued HIV/AIDS testing. Major study findings indicate that Black males, who reported positive parent support and/or had visited the doctor, were more likely to get tested for HIV/AIDS. Males who had parents or peers that possessed negative attitudes about sex were less likely to get tested for HIV. The findings of this study suggest several implications for prevention and intervention aimed at optimal ways to increase HIV testing among Black males warranting further investigation. Keywords Black/African American . Parent support . HIV/AIDS . Adolescence . Health/Public health
Introduction Black males constitute more than one-third of all new HIV infection cases in the United States (US). Moreover, Black males have higher rates of contracting HIV in comparison with any other racial and ethnicity group. The rates of new HIV infection are 11 times higher for Black males than for young White males and four times higher than Hispanic males [1, 2]. There have been many interventions aimed at reducing HIV-related risk behaviors for Black males, with improving parent–adolescent communication showing promise as a way to extend the reach of
* Donte T. Boyd [email protected] Camille R. Quinn [email protected]
HIV-related interventions. Parent–adolescent communication has been found to be important in delaying sex [3–5], having fewer sexual partners [6, 7], and increasing contraceptive use among youth [8, 9]. A meta-analysis of 52 studies found a significant positive association between parent–adolescent sexual communication and adolescent safe sex behavior. The results were found across longitudinal and cross-sectional studies, as well as among adolescents and young adults [10]. Hyde and colleagues found that conversations between parents and adolescents that included learning to say “no” to sex, delaying sexual debut, the importan
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