Chinese Immigrant Religious Institutions' Variability in Views on Preventing Sexual Transmission of HIV.

OBJECTIVES

We examined Chinese immigrant religious institutions' views on teaching about preventing sexual transmission of HIV and the consistency of their views with public health best practices in HIV prevention.

METHODS

We used 2009 to 2011 survey data from 712 members of 20 New York City-based Chinese immigrant religious institutions to analyze their views on (1) teaching adolescents about condoms, (2) discussing homosexuality nonjudgmentally, and (3) promoting abstinence until marriage.

RESULTS

Religion type was a significant predictor of views in the 3 domains, with Evangelical Protestants in least agreement with public health best practices, Buddhists in most agreement, and mainline Protestants between them. Greater HIV knowledge was significantly associated with agreement with best practices in all 3 domains. The frequency of prayer, meditation, or chanting and the level of acculturation were significant predictors of views on teaching adolescents about condoms and promoting abstinence until marriage.

CONCLUSIONS

The best practice messages about HIV prevention that Chinese immigrant religious institutions find acceptable vary according to religion type and several other key factors, including HIV knowledge; frequency of prayer, meditation, or chanting; and level of acculturation.