INTRODUCTION:
The
purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of an Internet-based
intervention to reduce sexual risk behaviors and increase resilience to sexual
risk behaviors among Mexican adolescents, a key HIV/AIDS risk group.
METHODOLOGY:
The
study had a quasi-experimental design with single-stage cluster sampling.
Participants ages 14-17 were stratified by gender and randomly assigned to
either receive intervention "Connect" (which included face-to-face
and Internet-based sessions designed to reduce sexual risk behaviors and
increase resilience to sexual risk) or control (a general educational video on
reducing health risks). A total of 9 survey instruments were administered
online through SurveyMonkey pre- and post-intervention to assess changes in
sexual risk and protective factors as well as two outcomes of interest: risky
sexual behaviors and resilience. Pearson correlation assessed instrument
reliability while multivariable linear regression models assessed two study
hypotheses: (1) the effect of the intervention on sexual behavior and
resilience is mediated by adolescent age, gender, and sexual experience and (2)
risk and protective factors are mediators between the intervention and sexual
behavior.
RESULTS:
The
sample was composed of 193 adolescents between 14 and 17 years old (n = 96 in
the control group and n = 97 in the experimental group). Survey instruments
were reliable. Age was associated with pre-to-post test changes in sexual
resilience (β = -6.10, p = .019), which partially mediated the effect of the
intervention on sexual resilience (β = 5.70, p = .034). Social support was
associated with pre-to-post test changes in risky sexual behavior (β = -0.17,
p = .039).
CONCLUSION:
Intervention
"Connect" was independently associated with improved self-reported
resilience to risky sexual behaviors, though not with a reduction in those
behaviors in multivariate analyses. This is the first Internet-based
intervention designed to reduce HIV/AIDS sexual risk among Mexican adolescents.
- 1 School of Health Sciences , Universidad Autónoma del Carmen , Av. Concordia Núm. 4 Col. Benito Juárez, Ciudad del Carmen , Campeche C.P. 24180 , Mexico.
- 2 School of Nursing, Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ciencias de la Salud , Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, UANL, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, UANL , Av. Universidad S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, San Nicolás de los Garza , Nuevo León C.P. 66451 , Mexico.
- 3 School of Psychology, Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ciencias de la Salud , Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, UANL, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, UANL ., Av. Universidad S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, San Nicolás de los Garza , Nuevo León C.P. 66451 , Mexico.
- AIDS Care. 2016 Feb;28(2):191-6. doi: 10.1080/09540121.2015.1073663. Epub 2015 Aug 24.
This study examined the role of religiousness and gender in age at first intercourse, and sexual expectations and values in Mexico, a macrocontext where the majority is Mexican and Catholic (83%).
Participants were Catholic and nonreligious adolescents (54% girls) attending middle (71%) or high school. Findings indicated that Catholic adolescents engaged in sexual intercourse at later ages than nonreligious adolescents. Both religious attendance and importance of religion and values in sexual decision making were associated with more conservative sexual values. Boys who were raised Catholic were more likely to endorse female virginity values and were less likely to expect to wait to have sex until married than nonreligious boys. These associations were not significant among girls.
Catholic boys may be more likely to internalize sexual double standard beliefs regarding premarital sex than nonreligious boys. This study expands our understanding of the role of religiousness in Mexican adolescents' sexuality.
- 1a Psychology Department , University of North Carolina , Wilmington.
- 2b Psychology Department , Walden University.
- 3c Department of Public and International Affairs , University of North Carolina , Wilmington.
