Project DASH “Divas Against the Spread of HIV/AIDS”: A pilot exploration on HIV risk and prevention among African American HIV+ Women and their Adolescent Daughters

Introduction: In New Jersey, African American mothers, ages 18 and over, accounted for 63% of the new HIV cases among all females.The context of the mother-daughter relationship with regards to communication about sex is a potential opportunity for prevention of the transmission of HIV. African American female adolescents also report more discussions about sex related topics with their mothers than do their male counterparts. The current pilot study examines the relationship between sexual communication of HIV+ women and their daughters with regard to future HIV risk and sexual behaviors of the daughters.

Methods: This mixed methods study employed qualitative, dyadic in-depth interviews. The participants (n=120) included 60 mother-daughter dyads, who completed demographic surveys and in-depth interviews. Data was analyzed using SPSS and Atlas ti.

Results: Findings from this study have the potential to guide the development of a larger study to: 1) elucidate elements of the mother-daughter relationship, in the context of HIV+ mothers, that can protect adolescent females against unsafe sexual behaviors and HIV risk, 2) identify modifiable risk factors that increase an adolescent female’s’ risk for HIV/AIDS, 3) develop interventions specifically targeting mother-daughter sexual communication to reduce HIV risk for the adolescent

Conclusions: This innovative dyadic maternal and child health approach has tremendous potential to further examine gender specific drivers of HIV/AIDS in the urban community of Newark NJ. This will ultimately facilitate decreased transmission in highly affected areas and further prevent the spread of HIV to African American adolescent females.