Women & health
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The Appraisal of Life Events is a self-report questionnaire that can be used retrospectively, asking respondents to reflect on the impact of a previously experienced event. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Greek version of the Appraisal of Life Events scale. The sample consisted of 137 women facing fertility problems and undergoing fertility treatment in a public hospital in Athens, Greece. ⋯ Convergent validity was confirmed by computing correlations between the two derived Appraisal of Life Events scales and the measures of stress, personality traits, and coping strategies. Internal consistency reliability was satisfactory (α = .79-.95). The Appraisal of Life Events had a meaningful factor structure and satisfactory reliability and convergent validity.
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Midlife African American women are at risk for HIV related to higher prevalence of infection among African Americans and concurrent sexual partnerships. In this grounded theory study, we explored the context of decision making related to concurrent sexual partnerships among 36 African American women between the ages of 40 and 65 years. ⋯ Women reported that partner concurrency and competition for acceptable men partners, "Man-Sharing," among midlife African American women influenced sexual decision-making, potentially resulting in greater risk for HIV infection. Future research focusing on the power differential in heterosexual relationships, inter-racial dating, and limiting the risks associated with partner concurrency may be fruitful.