CONTEXT


· Communities
· Religious institutions
· Traumatic life experiences
· Syndemic conditions

PROCESS


· Self-efficacy and
empowerment
· Emotion regulation
· Resilience
· Psychological distress

OUTCOME


· HIV/STI risk
· Substance use
· Engagement in care/adherance
· Emotional well-being

InfluencesInfluencesOUR APPROACHScroll down to learn more

  • What is intersectionality?

    Feminists and critical race theorists developed the idea of intersectionality to “describe analytic approaches that consider the meaning and consequences of multiple categories of social group membership” (Cole, 2009). An intersectional approach can show how an individual’s multiple identities (e.g., race and gender), when taken together, cause them to become uniquely vulnerable to systemic oppression. 

  • What is critical consciousness?

    Critical consciousness is the awareness of and ability to critically analyze social conditions. Colloquially, it may be known as “reading the world”: Understanding the social, political, and economic atmosphere of society and how injustice operates in the system. This ability to perform social analysis enables individuals to enact change in the interest of justice (Watts et al, 2011).

  • What is a socio-ecological framework?

    A socio-ecological framework examines the interaction between persons and settings. This framework enables researchers to look at individuals in the context of their environments (e.g., political, cultural, social) to arrive at a more holistic and accurate understanding of their health and psychology. 

  • What are diary studies?

    Diary studies are a type of study where participants’ experiences are sampled at regular intervals (e.g., daily). This method is especially important in health and clinical psychology because it allows researchers to examine temporal (or causal) structures of events and/or the efficacy of interventions over time.

Select resources and references

Cole. (2009). Intersectionality and Research in Psychology. The American Psychologist, 64(3), 170–180. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014564

Watts, Diemer, M. A., & Voight, A. M. (2011). Critical consciousness: Current status and future directions. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2011(134), 43–57. https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.310

Intersectionality: What is it and why it matters. The University of British Columbia. (2021). Retrieved from https://vpfo.ubc.ca/2021/03/intersectionality-what-is-it-and-why-it-matters/

Ferguson. (2005). The use of diary methodologies in health and clinical psychology. In A Handbook of Research Methods for Clinical and Health Psychology. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/med:psych/9780198527565.003.0009

Wilson, P.A. A Dynamic-Ecological Model of Identity Formation and Conflict among Bisexually-Behaving African-American Men. Arch Sex Behav 37, 794–809 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-008-9362-9

van den Berg, J. J., Fernández, M. I., Fava, J. L., Operario, D., Rudy, B. J., & Wilson, P. A. (2017). Using syndemics theory to investigate risk and protective factors associated with condomless sex among youth living with HIV in 17 U.S. cities. AIDS and Behavior, 21(3), 833-844.