Zekeri Andrew A
Professor of Sociology, Department of Psychology and Sociology, Adjunct Professor of Sociology, National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care, Tuskegee University, , Email:
J Healthc Sci Humanit. 2021 Fall;11(1):73-83.
Despite prior studies showing that a significant proportion of the general African-American population hold conspiracy beliefs about HIV/AIDS, limited research has investigated conspiracy beliefs among African Americans that are HIV-positive and the subgroups most likely to endorse such beliefs. I examined endorsement of HIV/AIDS conspiracy beliefs and their relationship to sociodemographic variables among 256 African Americans with HIV infection. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used in the study at an AIDS Outreach Organization clinic in Alabama that provides medical and social support services to HIV-positive persons. Patients reported agreement with statements capturing beliefs in HIV/AIDS conspiracies. Results indicated that about one-third subscribed to the notion that "AIDS is a form of genocide against Blacks" (29.7%) and some 27.7% of the respondents said that "AIDS was created by the government to control the black population." Regarding treatment-related conspiracy beliefs, over one-third (35.6%) somewhat or strongly agreed that "people who take the new medicines for HIV/AIDS are human guinea pigs for the government," while 29.9% somewhat or strongly endorsed the statement that "the medicine that doctors prescribe to treat HIV is poison." Results of multivariate analyses indicated that stronger HIV/AIDS conspiracy beliefs were significantly associated with educational attainment and age. A set of sociodemographic variables explained a small amount of the variance in conspiracy beliefs about HIV/AIDS (R range=0.13-0.14). Qualitative results indicated that conspiracy beliefs are barrier to medication adherence among these patients living with HIV/AIDS. Focus group discussions suggested that conspiracy beliefs can be important barriers to quality of life and infection control among HIV-positive individuals. These findings suggested that addressing conspiracy beliefs should be a significant issue in HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs in the 21st Century.
尽管先前的研究表明，很大一部分非裔美国普通人群持有关于艾滋病毒/艾滋病的阴谋论观点，但针对艾滋病毒呈阳性的非裔美国人以及最有可能认同此类观点的亚群体中的阴谋论观点的研究却很有限。我调查了256名感染艾滋病毒的非裔美国人对艾滋病毒/艾滋病阴谋论观点的认同情况及其与社会人口统计学变量的关系。本研究在阿拉巴马州一家为艾滋病毒呈阳性者提供医疗和社会支持服务的艾滋病外展组织诊所中采用了定量和定性方法。患者报告了对体现艾滋病毒/艾滋病阴谋论观点的陈述的认同情况。结果表明，约三分之一的人认同“艾滋病是针对黑人的种族灭绝形式”这一观点（29.7%），约27.7%的受访者表示“艾滋病是政府制造出来控制黑人人口的”。关于与治疗相关的阴谋论观点，超过三分之一（35.6%）的人有点或强烈认同“服用治疗艾滋病毒/艾滋病新药的人是政府的人体实验对象”，而29.9%的人有点或强烈认同“医生开的治疗艾滋病毒的药是毒药”这一说法。多变量分析结果表明，更强的艾滋病毒/艾滋病阴谋论观点与教育程度和年龄显著相关。一组社会人口统计学变量解释了艾滋病毒/艾滋病阴谋论观点中少量的变异（R范围 = 0.13 - 0.14）。定性结果表明，阴谋论观点是这些艾滋病毒/艾滋病感染者坚持服药的障碍。焦点小组讨论表明，阴谋论观点可能是艾滋病毒呈阳性个体生活质量和感染控制的重要障碍。这些发现表明，在21世纪的艾滋病毒/艾滋病治疗和预防项目中，应对阴谋论观点应是一个重要问题。
