A randomized controlled trial of a parent-centered intervention in preventing substance use and HIV risk behaviors in Hispanic adolescents.

The present study evaluated the efficacy of Familias Unidas + Parent-Preadolescent Training for HIV Prevention (PATH), a Hispanic-specific, parent-centered intervention, in preventing adolescent substance use and unsafe sexual behavior. Two hundred sixty-six 8th-grade Hispanic adolescents and their primary caregivers were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: Familias Unidas + PATH, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) + PATH, and ESOL + HeartPower! for Hispanics (HEART). Participants were assessed at baseline and at 6, 12, 24, and 36 months postbaseline. Results showed that (a) Familias Unidas + PATH was efficacious in preventing and reducing cigarette use relative to both control conditions; (b) Familias Unidas + PATH was efficacious, relative to ESOL + HEART, in reducing illicit drug use; and (c) Familias Unidas + PATH was efficacious, relative to ESOL + PATH, in reducing unsafe sexual behavior. The effects of Familias Unidas + PATH on these distal outcomes were partially mediated by improvements in family functioning. These findings suggest that strengthening the family system, rather than targeting specific health behaviors, may be most efficacious in preventing and/or reducing cigarette smoking, illicit drug use, and unsafe sex in Hispanic adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexually transmitted diseases: risk behaviors of female active duty U.S. Army recruits

This study examined the sexually related behaviors of 594 unmarried female Army recruits at the beginning of their basic training. The response rate for the entire sample of 818 recruits was 99.4%, with data from the 224 married recruits being eliminated from the analysis. The recruits completed an anonymous survey examining several independent variables: frequency of condom use, number of sexual partners, screening behaviors, and pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease prevention methods. The findings are discussed with regard to suggested appropriate and cost-effective educational interventions.     

A comparison of alcohol typologies using HIV risk behaviors among alcoholic inpatients.

Evaluated the strength of associations for HIV risk behavior and 5 typologies of alcoholism (gender, comorbid psychopathology, gamma–delta, family history, and drug abuse) among 802 inpatients (481 men and 321 women; mean age 34.4 yrs) at alcohol treatment centers. Findings suggest that some of the alcohol typologies describe subtypes with significant differences on rates and levels of HIV risk behaviors. Specifically, gender, depression, and anxiety subtypes were not consistently associated with HIV risk; however, the antisocial personality disorder and drug abuse subtypes had the strongest average effect size across a number of indicators of HIV risk behaviors (e.g., condom nonuse, multiple sex partners, and injection drug use). The gamma–delta and family history subtypes also resulted in elevated HIV risk behaviors, although with smaller effect sizes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reliability of self-reported HIV risk behaviors of drug users.

In AIDS research, relatively little attention has been paid to reliability of self-report of drug users. The authors examined the test-retest reliability of the Risk Behavior Assessment (NIDA, 1991) questionnaire. This structured-interview questionnaire was administered twice to 196 drug users in 5 cities over a 48-hr period. Findings indicated that respondents consistently self-report drug use, injection practices, and sexual behaviors; discrepancies do not appear to reflect systematic decreases or increases in self-report; unreliability is associated with poorly worded questions and respondent characteristics; and discrepant reports warrant attention in analysis and interpretation of data. Measurement error has implications for estimating risks, understanding relationships between behavior and HIV transmission, and interpreting change after interventions. Items with low reliability have been revised, and further reliability studies are examining whether revisions have led to improved reliability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent admissions to residential drug treatment: HIV risk behaviors pre- and posttreatment.

HIV risk behaviors of adolescents (N?=?938) admitted to residential therapeutic communities for drug abuse and related problems are described. Approximately 95% of the sample was sexually active. The adolescents reported that they had used drugs or alcohol about half of the time that they engaged in sexual relations and that half of their sexual activity was unprotected. Males and females differed in their self-perceptions of risk for HIV infection. Three dimensions of risky behaviors were identified by factor-analytic procedures: Risky Sex With Men, Risky Sex With Women, and Risky Drug Use Behaviors. Separate regression equations for males and females identified common and unique predictors of risky behaviors. A comparison of 1-year pretreatment with 1-year posttreatment risky behaviors for a subsample of the full cohort revealed significant positive changes (i.e., reductions) on some, but not all, measures of risky behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integrating Buddhism and HIV prevention in U.S. southeast Asian communities

Asian Pacific Islander communities in the United States have experienced an alarming increase in HIV infection over the past few years, possibly due to a lack of knowledge and the relative absence of appropriate educational interventions. The authors propose a new approach to the development of HIV prevention programs in U.S. southeast Asian communities. This article reviews the cultural and economic factors that may facilitate HIV transmission within these communities. Relying on the basic precepts of Buddhism, the dominant religion of many southeast Asian populations in the United States, the health belief model is utilized to demonstrate how recognizable, acceptable religious constructs can be integrated into the content of HIV prevention messages. This integration of religious concepts with HIV prevention messages may increase the likelihood that the message audience will accept the prevention messages as relevant. This nuanced approach to HIV prevention must be validated and refined through field research.     

Self-disclosure of HIV infection: Preliminary results from a sample of Hispanic men.

Examined self-disclosure of HIV infection among 101 adult Hispanic men with HIV infection. Results indicated that disclosure was highly selective and presumably influenced by the social, psychological, and material consequences of informing others about one's medical condition. Ss tended to inform significant others (parents, friends, and lovers) rather than less significant others (employers, landlords, and religious leaders.) There was a high rate of disclosure (75%) to doctors/dentists who were not treating Ss for HIV infection. Gay and bisexual Ss were more inclined to disclose their HIV serostatus to homosexual or bisexual others than to heterosexuals, and to inform those who were aware of their sexual orientation. Disclosure increased with severity of disease independently of length of time since testing seropositive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing a social-cognitive model of HIV transmission risk behaviors in HIV-infected MSM with and without depression.

Objective: Social-cognitive models have been used to explain health risk behaviors in numerous populations, including people with HIV. However, these models generally do not account for the influence of clinically significant psychological problems such as major depression. Design: This study examined whether a social-cognitive model would explain recent sexual transmission risk behavior among sexually active HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM) who meet or do not meet screening criteria for major depression. Main Outcome Measures: Participants (n = 403) completed self-report assessments of negative expectancy, social models, and self-efficacy (SE) related to condom use, as well as recent STRB and a screening measure for major depression. Multiple group modeling was used to examine whether condom use SE explained associations of negative expectancy and social models for condom use with recent STRB among participants who screened positive (n = 47) or negative (n = 356) for major depression. Results: The multiple group model fit the data well (χ2(36) = 30.55, p = .73; CFI = 1.00; RMSEA     

Individual growth in stature: a comparison of four growth studies in the U.S.A

Patterns of growth in stature of subjects from the four major U.S. longitudinal growth studies are compared by means of a two-component model for individual growth. Problems inherent in the comparison of data from independent growth studies, such as those arising from different methods of sampling subjects and scheduling measurements and the occurrence of atypical subjects, are considered and solutions are offered. Statistical tests of the individual growth parameters revealed significant, but small, differences among the samples in the magnitude of the contributions of prepubertal and adolescent growth to mature stature and in the velocity of growth. No differences between samples in the timing of the adolescent component were detected.     

Cross-cultural convergence in the structure of mood: A Japanese replication and a comparison with U.S. findings.

Investigated Japanese affective structure and its relation to English-language mood in an idiographic/nomothetic analysis. 57 Japanese mood terms were derived from an initial pool through factor analysis of content sortings. 18 Japanese undergraduates provided daily self-ratings on these terms for 3 mo. Each Ss' data were subjected to an individual factor analysis. Two large factors—Positive and Negative Affect, the major dimensions of mood found in previous research among English-speaking US Ss—emerged in most of the solutions. Japanese/English bilinguals made content sortings of the Japanese terms and 60 English mood words. The resulting 15 bilingual content categories were used in a comparison of Japanese and US mood structures, and a remarkable convergence was revealed. Factor score distributions were also similar in the 2 languages. The major difference between the structures involved the content factor Sleepy, which did not have a significant negative loading on the Japanese Positive Affect factor. This appears to be consistent with known cultural differences in values and behavior. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A prospective study of youth gambling behaviors.

Little is known about the course and outcomes of adolescent gambling. This prospective study describes findings from a 3-wave (Time 1 [T1], Time 2 [T2], and Time 3 [T31]) assessment of gambling behaviors among youth (N = 305). Stable rates of any gambling and regular gambling (weekly or daily) were observed across T1, T2, and T3. The rate of at-risk gambling significantly increased at T3 (young adulthood), whereas the rate of problem gambling remained stable over time. Several adolescent risk factors were associated with either T3 at-risk or problem gambling, many of which are risk factors for adolescent substance abuse. Findings suggest that important to the origins of young adult gambling problems are risk factors associated with the problem behavior syndrome of adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Information-motivation-behavioral skills model-based HIV risk behavior change intervention for inner-city high school youth.

This study assessed the effects of 3 theoretically grounded, school-based HIV prevention interventions on inner-city minority high school students' levels of HIV prevention information, motivation, behavioral skills, and behavior. It involved a quasi-experimental controlled trial comparing classroom-based, peer-based, and combined classroom- and peer-based-HIV prevention interventions with a standard-of-care control condition in 4 urban high schools (N=1,532, primarily 9th-grade students). At 12 months postintervention, the classroom-based intervention resulted in sustained changes in HIV prevention behavior. This article discusses why both of the interventions involving peers were less effective than the classroom-based intervention at the 12-month follow-up and, more generally, suggests a set of possible limiting conditions for the efficacy of peer-based interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Empathy in conduct-disordered and comparison youth.

Empathy was measured by an interview assessing emotions and cognitions in response to videotaped vignettes of persons in affective events and by empathy self-report questionnaires. As hypothesized, empathy was lower among conduct-disordered (CD) than comparison youth and was related inversely to antisocial and aggressive attitudes for all youth tested. Affectively, CD youth (n?=?30) reported fewer concordant emotional responses to vignette persons than did a comparison peer group (n?=?32). Cognitively, CD youth reported fewer correct identifications of vignette persons' emotions, lower mean levels of cognitive attributions for their own responsive emotions, and lower scores on empathy-related cognitive scales. Significant gender differences occurred, with girls scoring higher than boys on empathy questionnaires. Findings are discussed in terms of previous empathy and aggression research, and directions for future study are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Injury risk among children of low-income U.S.-born and immigrant mothers.

The number of immigrants in the United States is at an all time high, yet psychologists have largely ignored the domain of immigrant health. This article considers 1 aspect of immigrant health, risk for pediatric injury. A sample of over 5,000 5-year-old children from impoverished families was studied; approximately 13% had immigrant mothers. Children of immigrants had a significantly lower rate of injury in the prior year. This was particularly true of non-White children of immigrants. Three possible mediators for this finding--assistance with parenting, parenting style, and health care accessibility--were considered, but none explained the difference. The need for further research on the topic and implications of results for injury prevention are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)