The Impact of Spirituality and Religiosity on Unprotected Sex for Adult Women

OBJECTIVES:

To explore the relationship of spirituality and religiosity with sexual behavioral self-efficacy in predicting recent unprotected sex in a sample of adult women, predominantly comprised of African Americans.

METHODS:

Data were collected from a sample of 171 adult women via a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. We conducted a path analysis to test the proposed relationships.

RESULTS:

An increase in both religiosity and spirituality predicted a decrease in number of types of recent unprotected sex, indirectly through sexual behavior self-efficacy. All indirect effects were similar in magnitude.

CONCLUSIONS:

The results suggest that religiosity and spirituality are both associated with unprotected sex through sexual self-efficacy among African-American women. Faith-based strategies warrant further examination as components of sexual risk reduction efforts for this population.