Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Apr;83(2):155-9.
doi: 10.1136/sti.2006.023333. Epub 2006 Nov 10.

The association between knowledge of HPV and feelings of stigma, shame and anxiety

J Waller  1 , L A V Marlow, J Wardle
Affiliations

The association between knowledge of HPV and feelings of stigma, shame and anxiety

J Waller et al. Sex Transm Infect. 2007 Apr.

Abstract

Objectives: To test the hypotheses that (1) women who know that human papillomavirus (HPV) is sexually transmitted will expect to experience higher levels of stigma, shame and anxiety if they test positive for the virus than women who are not aware of the mode of transmission and (2) women who are aware of the high prevalence of HPV infection will expect to experience lower levels of stigma, shame and anxiety than women who underestimate its prevalence.

Methods: A web-based survey in which information about HPV was manipulated to generate a 2 x 2 design (awareness that HPV is sexually transmitted v no awareness; awareness of the high prevalence of HPV v no awareness). Participants (n = 811) were female students. They were asked to imagine that they had tested positive for HPV. Outcome measures were expected stigma, shame and anxiety.

Results: Great differences were observed in emotional reactions to imagining testing HPV positive between the four groups based on knowledge of HPV. Knowledge of the prevalence was associated with lower levels of stigma, shame and anxiety. Knowledge that HPV is sexually transmitted was associated with higher levels of stigma and shame, but not anxiety. Women who knew that HPV is sexually transmitted but not that it is highly prevalent had the highest scores for stigma and shame.

Conclusions: Raising public awareness of the sexually transmitted nature of HPV has the potential to increase women's feelings of stigma and shame if they test positive for the virus. However, our findings suggest that ensuring women's awareness of HPV being common may reduce these feelings and also reduce anxiety, perhaps by "normalising" the infection.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

References

    1. Kitchener H C, Almonte M, Wheeler P.et al HPV testing in routine cervical screening: cross sectional data from the ARTISTIC trial. Br J Cancer 20069556–61. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bosch F X, Lorincz A, Munoz N.et al The causal relation between human papillomavirus and cervical cancer. J Clin Pathol 200255244–265. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Merck European Commission approves Gardasil®, Merck's cervical cancer vaccine 2006. http://www.merck.com/newsroom/press_releases/product/2006_0922a.html (accessed 24 Oct 2006)
    1. CDC CDC's advisory committee recommends human papillomavirus vaccination. 2006. http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r060629.htm (accessed 24 Oct 2006) - PubMed
    1. Waller J, McCaffery K, Forrest S.et al Awareness of human papillomavirus among women attending a well woman clinic. Sex Transm Infect 200379320–322. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types