Love moderates the relationship between partner type and condom use among women engaging in transactional vaginal sex.
UNLABELLED Background Relationship characteristics and day to day variation in affective state have been associated with HIV risk behaviour. However, no research has assessed the impact of these factors on event level condom use among women engaging in transactional sex. METHODS Twenty six women engaging in transactional sex were enrolled in a prospective study of their sexual health. They completed diaries about multi level predictors of condom use during vaginal sex twice, daily. RESULTS Over 4 weeks, 18 participants reported 87 paid/traded vaginal intercourse events. Of these, 51.7% were condom protected. The majority of paid/traded events (81.5% occurred with a non romantic partner. After controlling for partner type, feeling in love on a given day was associated with higher odds of condom use during paid/traded sexual events, while having sex on the weekend and at night were associated with lower odds of condom use (all P<=0.05) There was a significant interaction between being in love and using condoms during transactional sex (P<0.01) In paid/traded sexual events with romantic partners, the frequency of condom use was 71.4% (5/7) when women did not report love and 40% (4/10) when love was reported. In sexual events with non romantic partners, the frequency of condom use was 43.8% (14/32) when women did not report love and 59.5% (22/37) when love was reported. CONCLUSIONS Women were less likely to report protected sex with romantic partners and more likely to report protected sex with non romantic partners when they are in love. Interventions focusing on the link between day to day variation in affective state on condom use may help women with risk management across partner types.
Sexual health