Response on HIV/Stigma/Culture
I received a response from an author I cited during APHA week ( Rojas, 2007) that I wanted to share with you. As I mentioned in the original post, Rojas found that Latino men were more likely to answer stigma questions about HIV correctly than Latino women. Here is Rojas' clarification:There were 376 college community members (not only college students) in the study I presented at APHA. All participants were Latinos/Hispanics. Stigma questions: questions measuring stigma were formulated in such a way that responding correctly to the stigma questions means having less stigma. In other words, multiple choice answers were provided. In the same manner males were found to have less HIV related stigma (meaning that they provided the "correct" not stigmatizing answer to the question.
Another clarification: 50% of the participants documented stigmatizing views regarding HIV/AIDS. Also males were found to have less stigma, they were 49% more likely to have less stigmatizing views (or answering correct) of HIV/AIDS.
This is a short answer to your question. But I hope it clarifies your question. If you have any other questions, please let me know. Good luck with your Web log. I respect your interest on public health. (personal correspondence, P Rojas, 11/24/2007)
EDIT: Actually, I just found Swendeman (2006): Swendeman found that young women living with HIV were more likely to feel shame than young men. This seems related to my comments below.
I'm still troubled by the idea that stigma - which seems to me to be opinion questions - can have "correct" or "incorrect" answers, but that's hardly the important part of Rojas' finding. It's extremely interesting to me that women were so much more likely to stigmatize HIV in this sample. I have no idea what would cause this effect, since it's so unlike the usual results we see where women are more empathetic. The only explanation I can think of ties in with a post from March ( Beliefs about Health Risks) where it was suggested that women may take a more moralistic view towards many illnesses.
Another clarification: 50% of the participants documented stigmatizing views regarding HIV/AIDS. Also males were found to have less stigma, they were 49% more likely to have less stigmatizing views (or answering correct) of HIV/AIDS.
This is a short answer to your question. But I hope it clarifies your question. If you have any other questions, please let me know. Good luck with your Web log. I respect your interest on public health. (personal correspondence, P Rojas, 11/24/2007)
EDIT: Actually, I just found Swendeman (2006): Swendeman found that young women living with HIV were more likely to feel shame than young men. This seems related to my comments below.
I'm still troubled by the idea that stigma - which seems to me to be opinion questions - can have "correct" or "incorrect" answers, but that's hardly the important part of Rojas' finding. It's extremely interesting to me that women were so much more likely to stigmatize HIV in this sample. I have no idea what would cause this effect, since it's so unlike the usual results we see where women are more empathetic. The only explanation I can think of ties in with a post from March ( Beliefs about Health Risks) where it was suggested that women may take a more moralistic view towards many illnesses.