Associations between HIV-related stigma, racial discrimination, gender discrimination, and depression among HIV-positive African, Caribbean, and Black women in Ontario, Canada.
Abstract African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) women are greatly overrepresented in new HIV infections in comparison with Canada's general population. Social and structural factors such as HIV-related stigma, gender discrimination, and racial discrimination converge to increase vulnerability to HIV infection among ACB women by reducing access to HIV prevention services. Stigma and discrimination also present barriers to treatment, care, and support and may contribute to mental health problems. We administered a cross-sectional survey to HIV-positive ACB women (n=173) across Ontario in order to examine the relationships between HIV-related stigma, gender discrimination, racial discrimination, and depression. One-third of participants reported moderate/severe depression scores using the Beck Depression Inventory Fast-Screen guidelines. Hierarchical block regression, moderation, and mediation analyses were conducted to measure associations between independent (HIV-related stigma, gender discrimination, racial discrimination), moderator/mediator (social support, resilient coping), and dependent (depression) variables. Findings included: (1) HIV-related stigma was associated with increased depression; (2) resilient coping was associated with reduced depression but did not moderate the influence of HIV-related stigma on depression; and (3) the effects of HIV-related stigma on depression were partially mediated through resilient coping. HIV-related stigma, gender discrimination, and racial discrimination were significantly correlated with one another and with depression, highlighting the salience of examining multiple intersecting forms of stigma. Generalizability of findings may be limited due to nonrandom sampling. Findings emphasize the importance of multi-component interventions, including building resilient coping skills, mental health promotion and assessment, and stigma reduction programs.
Correction of judgments of people of different ethnicities and sexes was explored by exposing participants to cues to the risk of making biased judgments (from explicit warnings to subtle hints). In three experiments, a three-way interaction was revealed, where the effect of a cue to bias varied as a function of both the ethnicity and sex of the target person. Some targets (White males) were generally rated less favorably when judges were reminded of bias, whereas other targets (Black males, Middle Eastern males and White females) were generally rated more favorably, indicating bidirectional correction. Finally, a normative account of the results was explored. In a pattern consistent with the experimental results, it was considered more important to avoid overrating White men than all other groups, and more important to avoid underrating all other groups than White men. The results are discussed in relation to theories of correction and intergroup bias.
Can financial insecurity and condescending treatment explain the higher prevalence of poor self-rated health in women than in men? A population-based cross-sectional study in Sweden.
Women have in general poorer self-rated health than men. Both material and psychosocial conditions have been found to be associated with self-rated health. We investigated whether two such factors, financial insecurity and condescending treatment, could explain the difference in self-rated health between women and men.
The association between the two factors and self-rated health was investigated in a population-based sample of 35,018 respondents. The data were obtained using a postal survey questionnaire sent to a random sample of men and women aged 18-75?years in 2008. The area covers 55 municipalities in central Sweden and the overall response rate was 59%. Multinomial odds ratios for poor self-rated health were calculated adjusting for age, educational level and longstanding illness and in the final model also for financial insecurity and condescending treatment.
The prevalence of poor self-rated health was 7.4% among women and 6.0% among men. Women reported more often financial insecurity and condescending treatment than men did. The odds ratio for poor self-rated health in relation to good self-rated health was 1.29 (95% CI: 1.17-1.42) for women compared to men when adjusted for age, educational level and longstanding illness. The association became, however, statistically non-significant when adjusted for financial insecurity and condescending treatment.
The present findings suggest that women would have as good self-rated health as men if they had similar financial security as men and were not treated in a condescending manner to a larger extent than men. Longitudinal studies are, however, required to confirm this conclusion.
Ethnic and gender discrimination in a variety of markets has been documented in several populations. We conducted an online field experiment to examine ethnic and gender discrimination in the private rental housing market in Finland. We sent 1459 inquiries regarding 800 apartments. We compared responses to standardized apartment inquiries including fictive Arabic-sounding, Finnish-sounding or Swedish-sounding female or male names. We found evidence of discrimination against Arabic-sounding names and male names. Inquiries including Arabic-sounding male names had the lowest probability of receiving a response, receiving a response to about 16% of the inquiries made, while Finnish-sounding female names received a response to 42% of the inquires. We did not find any evidence of the landlord's gender being associated with the discrimination pattern. The findings suggest that both ethnic and gender discrimination occur in the private rental housing market in Finland.
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