Aids Education and Prevention最新文献

Low income, urban, African-American, and Hispanic youth have been identified as a group for which there is concern about the spread of HIV. Using data from a household probability sample of 1,435 minority youth aged 15 to 24 in Detroit, this paper evaluates levels of sexual activity, condom use, and reasons for condom use and non-use. Comparisons with national samples of minority youth indicated that Detroit low-income youth have similar patterns of sexual behavior to national samples, although males and African-American females began their sexual experiences earlier and were less likely to have used condoms or other protection from pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) at first intercourse. Recent levels of condom use also left many Detroit youth unprotected from STDs. Less than half used a condom at last intercourse in the last year with nonmarital partners that they "knew well." In addition, condom use with partners that they "did not know well" was very low for Hispanic youth: Among those who had at least one casual partner in the last year, only 30% to 33% had ever used a condom with that partner. Analysis of reasons for use indicate that both pregnancy prevention and disease prevention were important motivations for condom use. However, many youth did not use condoms for reasons such as unavailability of condoms or unplanned sex.

Heterosexual transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has become a significant health issue for women. The present study describes the extent to which a sample of women from an urban area report making efforts to protect themselves from becoming infected with HIV through several protective sexual behaviors. Secondly, we assess the extent to which adoption of these protective behaviors can be explained by health beliefs and previous HIV testing. Forty-nine percent of the sample reported having used a condom in the past year because of fear of AIDS and 48% reported having carried condoms. Women in this sample perceived themselves to be moderately susceptible to AIDS and they were well aware of the severity of the disease. Women tended to think that protecting themselves from AIDS would not be overly burdensome and that the recommended sexual protective behaviors were highly effective for preventing AIDS. Messages about the severity of AIDS and the effectiveness of protective sexual behaviors seem to be reaching women. Beliefs about personal susceptibility were consistently associated with the adoption of multiple protective behaviors, suggesting that messages emphasizing the ubiquity of risk, especially in demographically high-risk populations, may be particularly appropriate and effective.

A sexual health curriculum has been incorporated into our university's freshman seminar. The effectiveness of this program in changing sexuality-related knowledge, attitude, and behavior in college freshmen was studied. Seven hundred eighty-six freshmen students enrolled in 37 randomly selected English classes were surveyed at baseline and at 3 months. Survey outcome measurements included: knowledge regarding sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), attitudes about sexual behavior, and behaviors including the frequency of barrier contraceptive use, abstinence, and the number of sexual partners. At postintervention, mean knowledge, attitude, and behavior scores were significantly higher for those simultaneously enrolled in the freshman seminar than for those not enrolled. Abstinence among males in the seminar increased. White males in the seminar were more likely to be abstinent or to use a condom than nonwhites. Females not participating in the intervention reported increased frequency of "never" using condoms and decreased frequency of condom use at last intercourse. Students participating in a sexual health curriculum in a college freshman seminar report less frequent high-risk sexual behaviors than students not participating in the seminar.

This study examined whether common reactions to AIDS are consistent with operation of the "magical law of contagion," a traditional belief that describes the transfer of properties, whether moral or physical, harmful or beneficial, through contact. Three features of magical contagion, explored in previous work, were re-examined. These features sometimes contrast with microbial contamination as described by modern germ theory. They are: permanence of effects; dose-insensitivity; and potential for effects to act backwards (i.e., from recipient back onto source). A fourth characteristic, previously unaddressed, was also explored: "moralgerm conflation," i.e., the tendency to incompletely distinguish illness from evil. Three hundred and ninety-nine college students completed a survey assessing each feature with regard to AIDS-related scenarios. Also assessed was general AIDS knowledge. Subjects were very well-informed about AIDS, yet a significant subset showed "magical" features of thinking. Consistent with moral-germ conflation, degree of worry about getting AIDS was better predicted by guilt than by risk behaviors and knowledge that they are risky. Implications are discussed.

The success of efforts to prevent continued transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and to increase compliance with HIV prophylactic interventions among homosexual and bisexual men will depend in part on health care professionals' understanding of and ability to establish linkages with these men. In order to recruit men into a research project and an educational program, staff at the Pitt Men's Study, an epidemiological investigation of HIV infection, developed a process described here as "brokering," which was based on community organizing and marketing principles. Brokering is a dynamic process by which researchers and public health professionals exchange goods and services with formal and informal leaders of the gay community in order to establish strong, long-term linkages. To date, this process yielded 2,989 homosexual and bisexual recruits into the study, which began in 1983. After 8 years, 79% of those still alive continue to return for follow-up. While recruitment techniques will need to vary from city to city, the importance of establishing linkages with the local indigenous leadership remains of major importance.

Blacks comprise 55% of all AIDS cases among women, and have 9 times the risk of white women of mortality from AIDS. Thus, prevention of HIV infection is critical among black women. Programs to prevent HIV infection have focused upon the adoption of behavioral strategies such as limiting the number of sexual partners, avoiding intercourse with IV drug users, and using condoms. However, such programs are dependent upon the ability of the woman to assume responsibility for her health and successfully adopt behavior changes. Generally overlooked in the development of health education interventions are those factors, such as depressive symptoms, which may make it very difficult for an individual to adopt healthy behaviors. In the present study, an analysis was conducted of the association between depressive symptoms and risk factors for the acquisition of HIV infection among black women using two urban health centers. Those women with higher levels of depressive symptoms were significantly more likely than other women to report more risk factors for HIV acquisition. The implications of these findings for the development of preventive interventions are discussed.

AIDS video education is a major mode of providing information about the spread and prevention of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Very little has been written about the need for culturally salient messages in increasing the acquisition and retention of HIV/AIDS prevention information, even though there is considerable agreement that limited culturally sensitive information is reaching African-American youth. This investigation sought to ascertain the impact of a culturally similar AIDS video on the acquisition of AIDS knowledge and endorsement of HIV/AIDS prevention beliefs. This study randomly assigned classes of African-American teenagers to one of two treatment groups: culturally similar video (CSV) AIDS education and culturally dissimilar video (CDV) AIDS education. Results suggest that the CSV group demonstrated significant improvement in pre- to post- AIDS knowledge scores compared to the CDV group (using ANCOVA procedures). The intervention was not significant in demonstrating change in beliefs about prevention. Implications for the development of HIV/AIDS prevention programs for inner-city African-American youth are discussed.

Acculturation is related to neurocognitive functioning in Latina/o/e PWH, however, little is known about the effects of stigma and nativity status. U.S.-born PWH (n = 44) and PWH born outside the U.S. (n = 22), M_age = 45.33 (7.67), 71.2% male, M_education = 12.33 (2.47) completed a neurocognitive battery, neuromedical evaluation, and sociodemographic questionnaires. Hierarchical regressions predicted neurocognitive T-scores from acculturation, perceived stigma, and nativity status. After accounting for acculturation, nativity status significantly predicted attention/working memory (p = .006), processing speed (p = .03), and executive function (p = .002), and the interaction between nativity status and stigma predicted English language verbal fluency (p = .001). Higher stigmatization was associated with higher English language fluency among those born outside the U.S. but lower English language fluency in U.S.-born participants. Nativity status should be considered when interpreting neurocognitive performance within Latina/o/e PWH.

Global efforts to prevent further spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are faced with tremendous obstacles, and limited understanding of the cultural and social context of HIV and AIDS is an important factor hindering prevention efforts to date. Examples from the authors' experience in providing technical support to 7 nongovernmental projects for HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa illustrate the importance of including qualitative data in initial baseline studies for projects responding to the problem. Qualitative data are needed to provide a deeper understanding of the meanings of behavior and other phenomena that are identified through quantitative methods. Runyoka is discussed as an example of a traditionally-defined illness in Zimbabwe that appears to affect local understanding of HIV/AIDS. The authors suggest approaches that would assist HIV/AIDS projects to better understand and respond to the social and cultural context of AIDS in local settings.