College graduation reduces vulnerability to STIs/HIV among African-American young adult women.

African-American women are disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. The Theory of Gender and Power (TGP) posits that socioeconomic exposures, including educational attainment, place women at increased risk for STIs/HIV. This study examined the association between educational attainment and vulnerability to STIs/HIV, as well as potential TGP-driven mediators of this association, among African-American women.

Design of a faith-based HIV intervention: successful collaboration between a university and a church.

This article describes the development of a gender-specific and culturally tailored, theoretically derived, faith-based HIV intervention created to reduce HIV vulnerability among African American women. This innovative culturally congruent approach to HIV prevention involves one of the most influential social structures in the African American community-the African American church. Using the ADAPT-ITT model, and principles of community-based participatory research, this faith-based HIV intervention was adapted from a CDC-defined evidence-based HIV prevention intervention for young African American women.

Association of sexual abuse with incident high-risk human papillomavirus infection among young African-American women.

Background: Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. Noticeably absent from the known risk factors for HPV infection is history of sexual abuse. The current study examined the association between sexual abuse and incident high-risk HPV among young adult black women.