Mental representation of self in relationships indirectly affects young Black women’s engagement in risky sexual behaviors through psychosocial HIV/STI risk factors

ABSTRACTBlack females are disproportionately affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/sexually transmitted infections (STIs), though individual-level sexual risk factors do not appear to explain racial/ethnic HIV incidence rate disparities. The current study examined the roles of attachment representations, working models of self and others, with psychosocial risk factors related to population-level sexual network features in association with risky sexual behaviors. A total of 560 Black emerging adult females (M age = 20.58, SD = 1.89) enrolling in a behavioral HIV prevention intervention trial completed the baseline assessment used in the current analyses. A series of multiple mediator models examined indirect effects of working models of self and others on sexual risk engagement through the following psychosocial HIV/STI risk factors: (a) partner communication self-efficacy, (b) fear of condom negotiation, (c) peer norms for risky sexual behavior, (d) partner trust and (e) sex-related alcohol expe...