Gender and the Effects of an Economic Empowerment Program on Attitudes Toward Sexual Risk-Taking Among AIDS-Orphaned Adolescent Youth in Uganda

• Published in: Journal of adolescent health 2010-04, Vol.46 (4), p.372-378
• Main Authors: Ssewamala, Fred M., Ph.D, Ismayilova, Leyla, Ph.D, McKay, Mary, Ph.D, Sperber, Elizabeth, B.A, Bannon, William, Ph.D, Alicea, Stacey, M.P.H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - prevention & control; Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior - psychology; Adolescents; AIDS; Analysis of Variance; Attitude to Health; Attitudes; Biological and medical sciences; Child, Orphaned - education; Child, Orphaned - psychology; Economic empowerment intervention; Empowerment; Female; Gender; Gender differences; Health Education - methods; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Human viral diseases; Humans; Immunodeficiencies; Immunodeficiencies. Immunoglobulinopathies; Immunopathology; Infectious diseases; Male; Medical sciences; Microfinance; Orphan; Pediatrics; Poverty - economics; Poverty - prevention & control; Prevention and actions; Psychology, Adolescent; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Risk-Taking; Safe sexual practices; Sex Distribution; Sex Factors; Sexual risk taking; Specific populations (family, woman, child, elderly...); Sub-Saharan Africa; Uganda; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the lymphoid tissue and the blood. Aids
• ISSN: 1054-139X; 1879-1972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.08.010

Abstract Purpose This article examines gender differences in attitudes toward sexual risk–taking behaviors of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)–orphaned youth participating in a randomized control trial testing an economic empowerment intervention in rural Uganda. Methods Adolescents (average age 13.7 years) who had lost one or both parents to AIDS from 15 comparable schools were randomly assigned to either an experimental (n = 135) or a control condition (n = 142). Adolescents in the experimental condition, in addition to usual care, also received support and incentives to save money toward secondary education. Results Findings indicate that although adolescent boys and girls within the experimental condition saved comparable amounts, the intervention appears to have benefited girls, in regard to the attitudes toward sexual risk–taking behavior, in a different way and to a lesser extent than boys. Conclusions Future research should investigate the possibility that adolescent girls might be able to develop equally large improvements in protective attitudes toward sexual risk taking through additional components that address gendered social norms.