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M94A2209.TXT
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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).