PREVENTING HIV AND ASSAULT--THE ROLE OF ALCOHOL

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

(Revised) An Independent Scientist Award is requested to enable the PI to continue with a successful program of research, begun with a Scientist Development Award, on the role of women's alcohol consumption in victimization and HIV-risk behaviors. The specific aims of the proposed program of research are: 1) to examine the naturally occurring relationships, over time, among risky behaviors (alcohol use, HIV-risk behaviors, frequenting risky settings) and victimization, 2) to examine the direct effects of alcohol on women's risk perceptions, risky behavior, and experiences of aggression, 3) to consider the implications of this program of basic research for prevention of victimization and HIV infection. The goal of this Award is the development of a prevention program that will reduce young women's vulnerability to victimization and HIV infection. The program of research will involve: 1) testing of a model, using a three-wave panel study, that proposes reciprocal effects between risky behaviors and victimization, 2) an event-based study that will permit examination of the associations of alcohol consumption with characteristics of aggressive incidents, and 3) a series of experimental studies of the direct effects of alcohol on perceptions and behaviors associated with victimization. Results of these studies, in combination with pilot data, will be used to develop an effective prevention program for women. The Independent Scientist Award will permit the PI to engage in training activities that will facilitate her development as a prevention researcher, a new direction for her. These activities will involve: courses and workshops in statistical methods relevant for longitudinal studies, attendance at prevention-focused conferences, establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships with other scientists, establishing and maintaining contacts with local prevention providers, and consulting with several senior researchers: Drs. Dean Kilpatrick, Kim Fromme, Seth Kalichman, and Christine Gidycz. Training and research activities will be conducted at the Research Institute on Addictions, an ideal environment for the continued development of the PI as an independent alcohol researcher.