Training Years: 2016-2017
Training Site: UNC Project-Malawi
Country: Malawi
Mentor: Nora Rosenberg, PhD
Title: Test whether social support improves adherence to modern contraceptives and HIV prevention methods across intervention arms at 12 months
Project Objectives: There is substantial evidence that individual and community determinants impact these outcomes. However, there is limited information about the influence of interpersonal determinants that exist between these two levels, such as social support from peers and community members. Social support is a multidimensional mechanism that refers to the emotional and instrumental resources available to individuals through their interpersonal relationships. This is a critical issue as research shows that peers and community members are an important point of reinforcement and modeling related to health beliefs and health behaviors during adolescence. Examining and understanding how social support, a modifiable factor, might impact a young woman’s decision to use health services has the potential to inform future interventions aimed at increasing uptake and adherence of both contraceptives and HIV prevention methods for this population. The proposed research study, set in the context of a separately funded HIV prevention intervention, aims to fill this gap through the following specific aims:
Aim 1: Evaluate the direct, mediating, and moderating effects of social support on the uptake and adherence of modern contraceptives and HIV prevention methods within the context of individual and community determinants among young women in Malawi at baseline
Aim 2: Conduct qualitative in-depth interviews to explore explanations for quantitative findings in Aim 1 at 6 months
Aim 3: Test whether social support improves adherence to modern contraceptives and HIV prevention methods across intervention arms at 12 months NIH Support: Fogarty scholars doctoral training award
NIH Support: Fogarty scholars doctoral training award
