Document 2209
 DOCN  M94A2209
 TI    Preventive acts, systems of prevention, and perception of risk.
 DT    9412
 AU    Schiltz MA; Adam P; CNRS France.
 SO    Int Conf AIDS. 1994 Aug 7-12;10(1):356 (abstract no. PD0029). Unique
       Identifier : AIDSLINE ICA10/94370366
 AB    OBJECTIVES: After a decade of safer sex campaigns, certain individuals
       continue to opt for strategies that conform to no criteria of
       epidemiological effectiveness. A study of the relationship between
       perception of risk, preventive measures taken, and the strategies for
       avoiding the epidemic permit us to appreciate the factors which favor or
       hinder the adoption of effective preventive behavior. METHODS: The study
       was conducted on a population of bisexuals and homosexuals in France,
       contacted by means of a survey in the gay press (2000 in '91, 900 in
       '92). The study interprets the significant links between more or less
       protected penetration, the appreciation of the risk incurred during the
       year, and the strategies for avoiding the epidemic. RESULTS: (R1) An
       unsystematic strategy of penetration increases the awareness of risk.
       (R2) Adopting a systematic strategy of risk management reduces the
       perception of risk considerably. This phenomenon is equally verifiable
       for individuals who employ an ineffective long-term strategy while
       exposing themselves to objective risks. These two results clearly
       illustrate that an individual's perception of risk is not solely a
       function of the objective risks he has taken. This might appear
       contradictory in so far as concern for prevention can lead, either to an
       increased perception of risk, or to a strongly reduced perception of
       risk. This contradiction disappears as soon as one understands what it
       means to adopt either inadequate preventive measures or a systematic
       strategy. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: We argue that individuals who
       maintain their participation in the economy of secual exchange, and thus
       continue exposing themselves to risk, certainly tend to avoid
       circumstances clearly leading to infection, but they likewise seek to
       reduce their fear and sense of risk; to accomplish this they are obliged
       to rearrange their intellectual conception of the situation. The
       observation that an unsystematic strategy of protection increases an
       individual's sensitivity to risk (R1) means that the individual has not
       modified his way of considering the risk of infection based on any
       belief in the effectiveness of preventive measures. When an individual
       adopts a systematic strategy (R2), one may suppose he has totally
       reorganized his thinking according to the measures he has adopted for
       reducing the feeling of risk. To the extent that certain systematic, but
       ineffectual strategies are employed, they serve for reality-maintenance.
       (Berger, Luckman, 1986). In other words, the adoption of and belief in a
       systematic strategy, effective or not, inevitably reduce the perception
       of risk.
 DE    *Attitude  Bisexuality  Homosexuality  Human  HIV Infections/*PREVENTION
       & CONTROL/PSYCHOLOGY  Risk Factors  Sex Behavior  MEETING ABSTRACT

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).