Impact of ethnic identity on sexual risk among a South Florida migrant worker community

Background: Incidence rates of HIV have been rapidly growing among the migrant worker (MW) community in the U.S. The prevalence rate for HIV has been estimated to be as high as 13.5%. One of the primary modes of HIV transmission among MWs is through sexual interactions. Methods: Baseline data (n=323) was used from an ongoing HIV/AIDS intervention study among Migrant Workers in Immokalee, Florida. The Vaginal Episode Equivalent (VEE) was used to assess sexual risk of the participants. A two-block linear regression was executed to analyze the relationship between ethnic identity (EI) and sexual risk. Demographic variables like country of birth, education, age, marital status, an d ethnicity, were included in the first block. EI subscales, ethnic identity explore (EIe) and ethnic identity belonging (EIb), were included in the second block. EI reflected the level of attachment one had with their ethnic group. Results: Both blocks of the linear regression were significant (block 1: p<0.05; Block 2: p<0.001). The significant predicting variables in the final model were country of birth (β=0.162, t(323)=2.091, p=0.037) and EIe (β=-0.150, t(323)=-2.295, p=0.022). Participants with higher sexual risk had lower levels of EIe and were born in the U.S. Conclusion: Riskier sexual behavior was shown to be present among U.S. born individuals and among those that are less attached to their ethnic group. More effective HIV risk reduction programs targeting US born individuals throughout the MW community are needed to address this problem.