Migration, acculturation, and sexual risk among West Indian immigrants

¶ … migration, settlement, and acculturation on diverse health behaviors and health outcomes influence sexual health, particularly HIV / AIDS, has remained unstudied as well as the West Indian group. Greater understanding is needed in how migration and acculturation may shape sexual risk and protection among the West Indian immigrants.

Hoffman, S. et al., (2011), Contexts of risk and networks of protection: NYC West Indian immigrants' perceptions of migration and vulnerability to sexually transmitted diseases, Culture, Health, and Sexuality: An International Journal for Research, Intervention, and Cure, 13(5): 513-528, retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3407273/pdf/nihms-290674.pdf.

Kind of Research

Descriptive data structured from open ended interviews with mixed quantitative and qualitative methods.

Purpose

To contribute to building a testable theory of sexual risks among West Indian immigrants and, more generally, to development of theory around migration and sexual health.

Design

Case study, naturalistic observation, survey in a mixed method.

Participants

Participants were 20 men and 36 women, ages 18-40 years, born in English-speaking Caribbean, self-identified African-American, diagnosed with one of several STDs within the past year. Referred by physician or nurse practitioner that made examination.

Procedure

Audio taped interviews for quantitative quality assurance and qualitative for subsequent transcription. Quantitative data and analysis: migration characteristics of travel to countries of interviews measuring sexual norms and contexts as well as participant perception of normative shifts to influence sexual behavior and risk for HIV.

Validity was measured by audio tapes transcribed and cleaned of participant identifiers and development of major and sub-codes and code rules, where text was read by two investigators.

Variables

Independent variable -- West Indian immigrants. Dependent variables -- perception of circumstances and sexual risk, ethnicity of partners, and cultural expectations of safe sex.

Level of Measurement

Nominal measuring numerical values of the group.

Instrumentation

None mentioned.

Sample

Dependent (same group).

Sampling Technique

Selected sampling.

Statistical Tests

None mentioned, but did show ratio and percentages.

Conclusions

The findings help inform preventive interventions for this group. Further investigation is needed for how West Indian perceptions of greater sexual freedom, loss of virtue, and limited knowledge of partner risks play out over time and for the differences of men and women.

Critique

The study needs more mention of instrumentation to determine findings for replicability. It showed validity with audio tapes in analyzing variables and use of two investigators to analyze code information. The level of measurement was appropriate to determine if goals were met.