Content area
Full text
J Relig Health (2014) 53:16621675
DOI 10.1007/s10943-013-9753-7
ORIGINAL PAPER
Elisabet Eriksson Gunilla Lindmark Beverley Haddad
Pia Axemo
Published online: 6 July 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract Faith communities exert a powerful inuence on the life of their members, and studies are needed about how they may be able to inuence young peoples attitudes regarding sexuality and HIV prevention. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire from young people (811), aged 1524 years, afliated to the Roman Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church and the Assemblies of God. The majority of participants perceived themselves at risk of HIV infection (53 %). Premarital sexual abstinence was the most frequently (88 %) reported prevention message, followed by faithfulness (23 %), HIV testing (18 %) and condom use (17 %). Furthermore, religious afliation was associated with education on sexuality and HIV in youth groups, with better information given to members of the Lutheran and Catholic churches. Faith communities need to strengthen their capacity to educate young people in a more holistic way about sexuality and HIV prevention.
Keywords Young people Sexuality HIV prevention Christianity Sub-Saharan
Africa
Introduction
In South Africa, Christian faith communities exert a powerful inuence on attitudes and life style and have credibility in the society, perhaps one of their major assets. Furthermore, local churches are present in both urban and rural areas, and their extensive networks can be valuable in delivering health services such as HIV prevention to young people (Pfeiffer
E. Eriksson (&) G. Lindmark P. Axemo
Department of Womens and Childrens Health, International Maternal and Child Health (IMCH), University Hospital, Uppsala University, 751 85 Uppsala, Swedene-mail: [email protected]
B. Haddad
School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Young People, Sexuality, and HIV Prevention Within Christian Faith Communities in South Africa:A Cross-Sectional Survey
123
J Relig Health (2014) 53:16621675 1663
2004). By providing individuals with education, rules, rituals and social networks among peers as well as across generations, the local faith communities create a structured social environment where young people can be socialized (Cooksey and Dooms 2010). The churches may serve as a social entity for those youth who attend religious services and can provide them with a sense of belonging, which is important during adolescence (Cooksey and Dooms...