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. 2023 Jul 16;20(14):6376.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20146376.

Strong Father-Child Relationships and Other Positive Childhood Experiences, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and Sexual Risk Factors for HIV among Young Adults Aged 19-24 Years, Namibia, 2019: A Cross-Sectional Study

Nickolas T Agathis  1   2 , Francis B Annor  2 , Likang Xu  2 , Elizabeth Swedo  2 , Laura Chiang  2 , Rachel Coomer  3 , Jennifer Hegle  4 , Pragna Patel  4 , Norbert Forster  5 , Gabrielle O'Malley  5 , Alison L Ensminger  5 , Rahimisa Kamuingona  6 , Helena Andjamba  6 , Brigitte Nshimyimana  6 , Molisa Manyando  7 , Greta M Massetti  2
Affiliations

Strong Father-Child Relationships and Other Positive Childhood Experiences, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and Sexual Risk Factors for HIV among Young Adults Aged 19-24 Years, Namibia, 2019: A Cross-Sectional Study

Nickolas T Agathis et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Using cross-sectional data from the 2019 Namibia Violence Against Children and Youth Survey and sex-stratified multivariable models, we assessed the associations between four different positive childhood experiences (PCEs) and having ≥3 adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), including ≥3 ACE-PCE interaction terms, and seven sexual risk factors for HIV acquisition among young adults aged 19-24 years. One PCE, having a strong father-child relationship, was inversely associated with two risk factors among women (lifetime transactional sex (OR, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2-0.7) and recent age-disparate sexual relationships (OR, 0.3; 95% CI, 0.2-0.5)), and significantly interacted with having ≥3 ACEs for three risk factors among women (not knowing a partner's HIV status, infrequently using condoms, and ever having an STI) and one among men (having multiple sexual partners in the past year). The other PCEs were significantly associated with ≤1 HIV risk factor and had no significant interaction terms. Strong father-child relationships may reduce HIV acquisition risk and mitigate the effect of childhood adversity on HIV risk among young adults in Namibia.

Keywords: HIV; adolescent and young adult health; adverse childhood experiences; fathers; positive childhood experiences; sexual health.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors of this manuscript have no relevant conflicts of financial or non-financial interest to disclose.

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