Stress, Coping, and HIV: Culturally Specific Coping Strategies and Their Influence on HIV Risk and Protective Behaviors in a Sample of Black Men in Valdosta, GA Open Access

Abstract

In spite of increasing rates of HIV among heterosexual Black men, there has been limited research on behavioral factors that influence their HIV risk and protective behavior. The Transactional Model of Stress and Coping (TMSC) suggests a relationship between stress, coping, and health behavior. Black men experience significant stressors due to their racism-related experiences and coping strategies used to address this stress may be related to their HIV risk and protective behaviors. This study used qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey to explore the relationship between culturally specific coping strategies and HIV risk and protective behavior among a sample of 30 Black men in Valdosta, GA. The study explored the types of racism-related stressors participants had experienced, culturally specific coping strategies used to address them, types of HIV risk and protective behavior the men engaged in, and the relationship between the coping strategies and HIV risk and protective behavior among the men.

Thematic analysis was conducted on interview data. Low, medium, and high HIV risk group categories were created using survey data and coping strategies were compared across groups. Findings show that participants experienced a variety stressors due to institutional, personally mediated, and internalized racism and used several coping strategies to address them including John Henryism, Cool Pose, Spirituality, and Social Support. In addition, participants engaged in several forms of HIV risk and protective behavior including condom use, HIV testing, non-condom use and having multiple partners. John Henryism and Cool Pose were used most frequently by low HIV risk and high HIV risk groups, while spirituality was used most frequently by the low HIV risk group. Social support was used with equal frequency by all groups, however the low risk group more frequently used social networks involving others tied to their place of faith. These findings suggest there are elements to John Henryism and Cool Pose that may influence both low and high HIV risk individuals. Furthermore, spirituality may play an important role in facilitating lower HIV risk. More qualitative research is needed to better understand these relationships.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Background 1
Purpose 5
Research Questions 5
Rationale 5
Theoretical Framework 6
Culturally Specific Coping Styles 9
John Henryism 9
Cool Pose 11
Cool Pose, John Henryism, and the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping 13
Chapter 2: Literature Review: 14
HIV and Black Men 14
Racism as a Stressor 15
Racism-Related Stress and Psychological Well Being 17
Black Men and Racism-Related Stress 19
Coping Response and Health Behavior 20
Coping Response and HIV Risk/Protective Behavior 21
Coping Response and Black Men 23
Summary 25
Chapter 3: Methods 27
Research Design 27
Target Population and Sample 27
Sampling and Recruitment 28
Eligibility Requirements 29
Interview Guide and Questionnaire 29
Data Collection 31
Data Management 32
Data Analysis 32
Limitations 34
Chapter 4: Results 37
Introduction 37
Race-Related Stressors 37
Culturally Specific Coping Strategies 59
HIV Risk and Protective Behaviors 71
Culturally Specific Coping Strategies and HIV Risk and Protective Behaviors 79
Chapter 5: Discussion 83
Introduction and Summary of Findings 83
Positioning Findings in a Theoretical Context 86
Implications for Public Health and Future Research 88
Conclusions 90
References 91

About this Master's Thesis

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School	Rollins School of Public Health
Department	Behavioral Sciences and Health Education
Degree	MPH
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Health Sciences, Public Health Psychology, Behavioral
Keyword	Culturally Specific Coping Racism-Related Stress John Henryism Cool Pose HIV Risk
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Jacob Arriola, Kimberly R, Emory University
Committee Members	Malebranche, David J, Emory University
Partnering Agencies	Does not apply (no collaborating organization)

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