Psychological features of women at risk for HIV infection

The article is devoted to the study of psychological characteristics of women at HIV infection risk. The study involved 62 non-pregnant women aged 18 to 38 years old, who had sex within last 6 months. With appropriate techniques a comparative analysis of the following indicators in two groups was performed: sexual behavior peculiarities, HIV knowledge, self-assessment of HIV infection risk, the level and nature of alcohol consumption, the level of depression and anxiety, the level of subjective health importance, level of subjective control in various areas, the level of personality traits expression, subjective perception of psychological time. Data analysis showed a large number of interesting results, including: young women at HIV infection risk are characterized by risky behavior in the sphere of health, in particular, they had more than one partner in the last 12 months and these women are characterized by a relatively high level of alcohol consumption. In addition, women of this group are more likely to have a number of psychological features: almost half of women at risk do not feel at infection risk, they are characterized by low levels of kindness and personal resources, thus are relatively more emotionally stable. In addition, women at HIV infection risk show a reduced level of psychological past and future time perception.