Youth sexuality in the context of HIV/AIDS in South Africa

The vast majority of non-biomedical research on HIV/AIDS has been behavioural research, usually by survey methods, counting people's sex acts, partners, preferences, places times and reasons for sex, and assessing levels of risk for HIV infection, revealing the dominance of seeing sex largely as behaviours. The notion of behaviours denudes sex of all meaning and pleasure. It neglects how meaning and pleasure rely on context, how context exemplifies culture, and how culture is structured by history and discourse. When we drive our understanding of the epidemic by behaviours alone, we fail to comprehend that many of the social determinants of behaviour lie beyond the conscious apprehension of immediate acts and volitions. If we fail to understand the determinants of HIV risk and vulnerability as profound social- and by social is meant relational, contextual, cultural, political, economic, historical, symbolic and discursive -we fail to understand best how to intervene

Youth sexuality in the context of HIV/AIDS in South Africa

The vast majority of non-biomedical research on HIV/AIDS has been behavioral research, usually by survey methods, counting people's sex acts, partners, preferences, places, times and reasons for sex, and assessing levels of risk for HIV infection, revealing the dominance of seeing sex largely as behaviors. However, the notion of behaviors denudes sex of all meaning and pleasure. It neglects, as a result, how meaning and pleasure rely on context, how context exemplifies culture, and how culture is structured by history and discourse. When we drive our understanding of the epidemic by behaviors alone, we fail to comprehend that many of the social determinants of behavior lie beyond the conscious apprehension of immediate acts and volitions, i.e. sexual behaviors are socially embedded practices. If we fail to understand the determinants of HIV risk and vulnerability as profoundly social- and by social is meant relational, contextual, cultural, political, economic, historical, symbolic and discursive- we fail to understand best how to intervene.Also, in such behavioral surveys, we are often concerned more with the sex of the sexual partner than the meaning of sex without a condom or an understanding of which circumstances within a sexual economy structure risk as, say, pleasure or intimacy, or social membership or an act of self-actualization. Research undertaken in the mid-1990s among young people in seven developing countries revealed the importance of changing sexual meanings, sexual cultures and sexual identities in the patterns of sexual activity, forms of partnering, and meanings of sexual safety for young people within rapidly changing cultures

Evaluation of body shape, eating disorders and weight management related parameters in black female students of rural and urban origins

This study examined body shape dissatisfaction, eating disorder and weight management-related parameters as well as assimilation of Western cultural norms regarding body shape in black female students of urban and rural origins. Subjects (n=180; 20 ± 4,4 years old) were weighed, their height was measured and they completed the Body Shape Questionnaire, EAT-26, Eating Inventory (restraint scale), Adolescent Self-Concept Scale and a questionnaire concerning weight management behaviours. Main findings include lower prevalences of overestimation of body weight and body shape dissatisfaction, similar prevalences for dieting and the use of hazardous weight reduction methods, and higher prevalences for overweight, obesity, disordered eating attitudes and behaviours, and dietary restraint among subjects than among similar white groups. Furthermore, those with urban origins were more likely to be restrained eaters, to have attempted weight reduction, to aim for weight loss and to fear weight gain. These data indicate that there are signs of more realism concerning weight status among black female students. However, there are also signs of assimilation of Western cultural norms concerning body shape, eating attitudes and behaviours and weight management. This diversity in the black student population in South Africa needs to be recognized when planning interventions to address eating related problems.Articl

Correlates of suicide risk among secondary school students in Cape Town

The aim of this study was to assess correlates of suicide risk in a South African school-based population (N = 1,157) from three secondary schools in Cape Town. Results indicated that using the Suicide Risk Screen (SRS; Eggert, Herting, & Thompson, 1995) a high rate of learners screened in at possible suicide risk (31.6%). Anger control problems, low self-esteem, perceived stress and unmet school goals were identified as predictors for suicide risk, while gender, age, drug involvement (alcohol and drug use, drug control problems and adverse consequences from alcohol and drug abuse), parental alcohol and/or drug abuse problems, perceived school performance, serious conflicts and tension with parents and unmet family goals were not associated with suicide risk.

Narcissism and the Strategic Pursuit of Short-Term Mating:Universal Links across 11 World Regions of the International Sexuality Description Project-2

Previous studies have documented links between sub-clinical narcissism and the active pursuit of short-term mating strategies (e.g., unrestricted sociosexuality, marital infidelity, mate poaching). Nearly all of these investigations have relied solely on samples from Western cultures. In the current study, responses from a cross-cultural survey of 30,470 people across 53 nations spanning 11 world regions (North America, Central/South America, Northern Europe, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Middle East, Africa, Oceania, Southeast Asia, and East Asia) were used to evaluate whether narcissism (as measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory; NPI) was universally associated with short-term mating. Results revealed narcissism scores (including two broad factors and seven traditional facets as measured by the NPI) were functionally equivalent across cultures, reliably associating with key sexual outcomes (e.g., more active pursuit of shortterm mating, intimate partner violence, and sexual aggression) and sex-related personality traits (e.g., higher extraversion and openness to experience). Whereas some features of personality (e.g., subjective well-being) were universally associated with socially adaptive facets of Narcissism (e.g., self-sufficiency), most indicators of short-term mating (e.g., unrestricted sociosexuality and marital infidelity) were universally associated with the socially maladaptive facets of narcissism (e.g., exploitativeness). Discussion addresses limitations of these cross-culturally universal findings and presents suggestions for future research into revealing the precise psychological features of narcissism that facilitate the strategic pursuit of short-term mating