Doctoral Degrees (Psychology)
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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Psychology) by browse.metadata.advisor "Kagee, Shaheen Ashraf"
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- ItemPredicting adolescent willingness to participate in HIV vaccine trials: the role of sensation seeking(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015-12) Kafaar, Zuhayr; Kagee, Shaheen Ashraf; Swartz, Leslie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Department of Psychology.ENGLISH ABSTRACT : Background: The prevalence rate of HIV for all age groups across South Africa is 12.6%, with approximately 6 422 179 South Africans living with the virus as of this writing. Approximately 469 000 new cases of HIV per year are reported. One of the promising technologies in development to reduce HIV incidence is an HIV vaccine. To be effective, vaccination must occur before exposure to the disease-producing agent, i.e., before sexual debut. An effective HIV vaccine must therefore be tested in adolescent populations. Objectives: The first objective of the study was to determine the facilitators of and barriers to adolescent willingness to participate (WTP) in a hypothetical HIV vaccine clinical trial. The second objective was to determine which variables predicted adolescent WTP and what role sensation seeking would play in the relationship between the predictors of adolescent WTP and adolescent WTP. Methodology: In the qualitative phase of the study I used purposive sampling to enrol the adolescent community advisory board (CAB) of the PHRU based at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto which is a potential HIV vaccine clinical trial site. I conducted three focus group discussions (FGD) with the 25 CAB members, which were audio-recorded and transcribed. I analysed the transcriptions thematically and identified five barriers to and 11 facilitators of adolescent WTP in a hypothetical HIV vaccine clinical trial. In the quantitative phase of the study I developed a survey on the basis of the results from the qualitative phase. Based on prior research, I selected those facilitators of adolescent WTP that could be psychometrically measured to determine the variables that predicted adolescent WTP and the role of sensation seeking in this relationship. I recruited 467 participants from five high schools in Soweto for the quantitative phase of the study. Results: FGD participants identified five barriers: i) admitting sexual activity to an older individual; ii) difficulty in agreeing to participate; iii) potential side effects; iv) parents’ concerns for their children; and; v) stigma, and eleven facilitators: i) perceived safety of the candidate vaccine; ii) potential rewards of participation; iii) salience of HIV; iv) positive peer pressure; v) social status; vi) personality characteristics; vii) congruent messages in communities; viii) increased information; ix) risk behaviour; x) altruism; and xi) leadership. I selected altruism, sexual risk behaviour, leadership, personality characteristics, and social status in addition to WTP and sensation seeking as the variables to include in the survey. I conducted regression analyses to determine which variables predicted adolescent WTP. Only altruism and leadership statistically predicted WTP (p<.001), accounting for 9.4% and 17.2% of the variance in adolescent WTP, respectively. Product-term regression analysis showed that altruism and leadership directly influenced adolescent WTP independently of each other. Conclusion: Contrary to Swartz et al. (2005), sensation seeking did not predict adolescent willingness to participate in an HIV vaccine clinical trial. However, leadership and altruism confirmed the literature on adult WTP, in that they both predicted adolescent willingness to participate in an HIV vaccine clinical trial independently of each other.