The study investigates the influence of online and social media in HIV
prevention, with a focus on young women and HIV risk perception related to
age-disparate relationships. The study was conducted using an existing online
prevention HIV prevention platform by means of a self-administered online
questionnaire. Convenience sampling was used to recruit between 250 and 500
users between the ages of 18 to 24 years. The results revealed poor HIV risk
perception in 46% of respondents, which seemed influenced by their perception
(38%) that older men are safer sexual partners than younger men. In addition,
this poor risk perception is seemingly influenced by the fact that many young
women (77%) involved in these relationships, viewed these as primarily based
on love and affection and as being “safe”, challenging the commonly held
perception that these are primarily transactional in nature. Further respondents
reported at rates of between 38% and 44% that the platform had improved their
HIV risk perception related to these relationships. In summary, the research
resulted in several recommendations to improve the platform, including
improving ways of getting more and on-going feedback from users on their HIV
risk perceptions and designing content and engagement strategies to address
these. / Sociology / M. A. (Social Behaviour Studies in (HIV/AIDS)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/23500 |
| Date | 02 1900 |
| Creators | Armstrong, Elizabeth Jean |
| Contributors | Roets, Leon |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 1 online resource (70 leaves) : color illustrations |
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