Exploring the relationships among food insecurity, alcohol use, and sexual risk taking among men and women living in South African townships
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2014
TITLE AUTHOR(S): L.A.Eaton, D.N.Cain, E.V.Pitpitan, K.B.Carey, M.P.Carey, V.Mehlomakulu, L.C.Simbayi, K.Mwaba, S.C.Kalichman
KEYWORDS: ALCOHOL USE, FOOD SECURITY, MEN, RISK BEHAVIOUR, SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR, TOWNSHIP, WOMEN
DEPARTMENT: Public Health, Societies and Belonging (HSC)
Print: HSRC Library: shelf number 8468
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/2121
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/2121
If you would like to obtain a copy of this Research Output, please contact Hanlie Baudin at researchoutputs@hsrc.ac.za.
Abstract
South African townships have among the highest rates of HIV infection in the world. Considerable research on understanding the high rates of HIV transmission in this country has identified alcohol use as a critical factor in driving the HIV epidemic. Although the relationship between alcohol use and sexual risk-taking is well documented, less is known about how other factors, such as food insecurity, might be important in understanding alcohol's role in sexual risk-taking. Furthermore, prior research has highlighted how patterns of alcohol use and sexual risk-taking tend to vary by gender. We examined how food insecurity is related to both alcohol use and sexual risk-taking. We administered anonymous community surveys to men (n = 1,137) and women (n = 458) residing within four contiguous Black African townships outside of Cape Town, South Africa. In multivariate linear regression, we found that food insecurity was related to having higher numbers of male sex partners and condom-protected sex acts among women only. These relationships, however, were fully mediated by women's alcohol use. Among men, we found that food insecurity was negatively related to unprotected sex; that is, men with greater food security reported more unprotected sex acts. Unlike the results found among women, this relationship was not mediated by alcohol use. Food insecurity appears to be an important factor in understanding patterns of sexual risk-taking in regards to gender and alcohol use, and may serve as an important point of intervention for reducing HIV transmission rates.-
Related Research Outputs:
- Intimate partner violence as a factor associated with risky sexual behaviours and alcohol misuse among men
- Community norms for HIV risk behaviors among men in a South African township
- Looking to the future: South African men and women negotiating HIV risk and relationship intimacy
- Sexual violence and HIV risk among black men who have sex with men in South African townships
- "Sometimes it's painful": painful anal intercourse and sexual decision making among black men who have sex with men in South African townships
- Alcohol and the social scripting of unsafe sex among black men who have sex with men in South African townships
- Taverns, bars and shebeens: sexual risk and HIV within homosocial spaces among black men who have sex with men in South African townships
- HIV and sexual risk in MSM in Tshwane townships: findings from the quantitative phase
- "This will not enter me": painful anal intercourse among black men who have sex with men in South African townships
- 'They think that gays have money': gender identity and transactional sex among black men who have sex with men in four South African townships
- Intimate partner violence as a factor associated with risky sexual behaviours and alcohol misuse amongst men in South Africa
- High prevalence of HIV and low awareness of HIV infection among young MSM and transgender women in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- PrEP interest, eligibility and initiation by MSM and transwomen in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- The psychosocial determinants of the intention to avoid sexual engagement when intoxicated among young men in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- Coital bleeding and HIV risks among men and women in Cape Town, South Africa
- Disclosure decisions and HIV transmission risk behaviour of HIV positive men who have sex with men (MSM) in Cape Town, South Africa
- Stigma and discrimination experiences of HIV-positive men who have sex with men in Cape Town, South Africa
- Constructions of masculine sexuality, high risk sex and HIV/AIDS amongst young Xhosa men in South Africa
- Sugar daddies' and HIV: is it really about money, money, money?
- HIV testing and self-reported HIV status in South African men who have sex with men: results from a community-based survey