Mid-life Women: Preventing Unintended Pregnancy and STIs

描述（由申请人提供）：35-50岁的中年妇女目前在意外怀孕和性传播感染预防干预领域服务不足。普遍的看法是，这个年龄段的女性不再性活跃，或者已经过了更年期，但实际上，性活动在中年和绝经后几年保持稳定。此外，生理（例如，绝经期妇女（绝经前妇女）和关系状况的变化（如离婚或伴侣死亡）使这些妇女面临更大的意外怀孕和性传播感染的风险。拟议的第二阶段项目将制定和评价一项以理论为基础的多媒体干预措施，旨在协助中年妇女保护自己免受性传播感染和意外怀孕。第一阶段项目成功地为非裔美国妇女亚群制作了一个光盘干预措施，提供关于怀孕和性传播感染预防、伴侣沟通和围绝经期的信息。第二阶段的开发将大大扩展第一阶段的视频和其他内容，使其完全是多元文化的（即，针对非裔美国人、亚裔美国人、高加索人和西班牙裔妇女）。广泛的形成过程将为干预设计提供信息并形成干预设计，以增加以下方面的知识：（1）中年怀孕风险;（2）中年性传播感染风险;（3）预防中年性传播感染和意外怀孕的战略;（4）性伴侣对减少风险的决定和行为的影响;（5）伴侣沟通技巧。最后产品将以互联网/内联网、光盘和DVD格式制作。该计划将在完全在互联网上进行的随机对照试验中进行评估。结果的措施将包括：知识，信念，态度，规范的期望，自我效能和行为意图有关的预防性传播感染和意外怀孕。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Mid-life women, aged 35-50, are currently an underserved population in the areas of unintended pregnancy and STI prevention interventions. The common perception is that women in this age range are no longer sexually active, or are past the menopause transition, but in reality, sexual activity remains stable through mid-life and into the post-menopausal years. Additionally, physiological (e.g., perimenopause) and relationship status changes (e.g. divorce or death of a partner) put these women at increased risk for both unintended pregnancy and STI's. The proposed Phase II project will develop and evaluate a theoretically-based multimedia intervention designed to assist mid-life women in protecting themselves from sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy. The Phase I project successfully created a CD-ROM intervention for a subpopulation of African American women, providing information on pregnancy and STI prevention, partner communication and perimenopause. Phase II development will greatly expand the Phase I video and other content to be fully multicultural (i.e., targeted for African American, Asian American, Caucasian and Hispanic women). Extensive formative processes will inform and shape the intervention design to increase knowledge about: 1) pregnancy risk in mid-life; 2) STI risk in mid-life; 3) strategies to prevent STIs and unintended pregnancy in mid-life and 4) influences of sexual partners on risk reduction decisions and behaviors; and 5) partner communication techniques. The final product will be created in Internet/Intranet, CD-ROM, and DVD formats. The program will be evaluated in a randomized control trial, conducted entirely on the Internet. The outcome measures will include: knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, normative expectations, self-efficacy and behavioral intentions regarding prevention of STI's and unintended pregnancy.