PREVENTING HIV INFECTION THROUGH BEHAVIOR CHANGE

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

DESCRIPTION (Applicant's Abstract): The proposed research focuses on developing and evaluating interventions to prevent HIV transmission through behavior change; and investigating the relationship between sexual risk behavior and substance use. Five projects (11 studies) are planned. Project 1 (Study 1) will evaluate a HIV risk reduction intervention with adults who have a severe mental illness; and determine whether the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills model can account for variability in risk behavior in this population. Project 2 (Studies 2, 3, and 4) seeks to reduce drug abuse and its negative consequences by enhancing readiness-to-change in persons with schizophrenia. Project 3 (Studies 5 and 6) will evaluate the effects of acute alcohol intoxication on HIV risk perceptions and behavioral skills; data from these two studies will be used to conduct path analyses to determine the mechanism(s) by which alcohol influences risky sexual behavior. Project 4 (Studies 7, 8, and 9) will employ meta-analytic methods to determine the relationship between self-efficacy and HIV-risk reduction, the effectiveness of HIV-counseling and testing (CT) programs, and the effectiveness of group and community-level HIV-risk reduction programs. Project 5 (Studies 10 and 11) will evaluate the effectiveness of the applicant's motivational approach to HIV risk reduction with low-income urban women, and determine if the effectiveness of this intervention differs as a function of the treatment provider. The applicant's career developmental plan focuses on activities designed to facilitate continued progress toward senior status and leadership in the field. These activities include continuing education through formal courses and professional conferences; collaboration with community leaders as well as senior scientists; and involvement with science education provided to undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty.