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ABSTRACT
Risky behaviors can increase acquisition risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI). Self-esteem may be linked to risky behavior, but little research has assessed this relationship in low-resource regions. Using cross-sectional data from a study of Tanzanian plantation residents, the authors examined associations between self-esteem and two risky behaviors (problematic alcohol use and transactional sex). In unadjusted and adjusted analyses, higher self-esteem was significantly associated with less prevalent transactional sex (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR]: 0.74, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.59–0.93) and less prevalent problematic alcohol use (aPR: 0.81, 95% CI:0.70–0.93). Self-esteem may be an appropriate target for STI prevention interventions.
Funding
We acknowledge the support of Yale's Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS for funding the initiation of the study, as well as support from the Fulbright Fellowship for Doctoral Research Abroad and the Yale Center for International and Area Studies to complete the study. This article represents a portion of Norris's doctoral dissertation, and she received support at Yale from the NIH Medical Scientist Training Program and an NIMH training grant as a predoctoral fellow with the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS. Writing and analyses were partially supported by award P50 DA039898 from NIDA. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Drug Abuse or the National Institutes of Health. The funding sources had no role in data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, writing of this report, or the decision to publish this article.