Safer sex: Social and psychological predictors of behavioral maintenance and change among heterosexual women.

Women of diverse backgrounds from 4 community health clinics in southern Connecticut were involved in a longitudinal, prospective study (n?=?189). Data from interviews 3 months apart were used for the current analyses. The purpose of this study was to develop predictive models of safer sexual behavior among heterosexual women. Specifically, there was an interest in identifying factors to predict the maintenance or initiation of safer behavior over time. Relationship involvement and attitudes toward condoms were important in both models. Beyond this, differences in explanatory models emerged, reflecting the importance of examining behavior maintenance and change independently. Depression, health locus of control, and outcome efficacy belief made significant contributions to understanding the maintenance of safer sexual behavior. HIV counseling and testing, partner risk, and optimism helped to explain the initiation of safer sexual behavior. Implications for future interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The intergenerational cycle of teenage motherhood: An ecological approach.

Objective: Daughters of teenage mothers have increased risk for teenage childbearing, perpetuating intergenerational cycles. Using Ecological Systems Theory, this study prospectively examined risk factors for teenage childbearing among a national sample of adolescent girls. Design: Data came from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. Participants (N = 1,430) were recruited in early adolescence and interviewed yearly for 6 years. Survival analysis was used to examine the rate of childbirth across the teenage years by maternal age at first birth. Hierarchical Cox regression was used to identify multivariate predictors of teenage childbearing and to test whether risk factors differed between daughters of teenage versus older mothers. Primary Outcome Measure: Age at first childbirth was based on cumulative information collected at yearly interviews. Results: Daughters of teenage mothers were 66% more likely to become teenage mothers, after accounting for other risks. Individual (school performance), family (maternal education, marital status, number of children), peer (dating history), and environmental (race, enrichment) factors predicted teenage childbearing. Risks unique to daughters of teenage mothers were deviant peer norms, low parental monitoring, Hispanic race, and poverty. Conclusion: Results support multidimensional approaches to pregnancy prevention, and targeted interventions addressing unique risk factors among daughters of teenage mothers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Urban teens: Trauma, posttraumatic growth, and emotional distress among female adolescents.

Urban teens face many traumas, with implications for potential growth and distress. This study examined traumatic events, posttraumatic growth, and emotional distress over 18 months among urban adolescent girls (N = 328). Objectives were to (a) describe types of traumatic events, (b) determine how type and timing of events relate to profiles of posttraumatic growth, and (c) prospectively examine effects of event type and posttraumatic growth on short- and long-term emotional distress with controls for pre-event distress. Results indicate that type of event was related to profiles of posttraumatic growth, but not with subsequent emotional distress. When baseline emotional distress was controlled, posttraumatic growth was associated with subsequent reductions in short- and long-term emotional distress. Implications for future research and clinical practice with adolescents are addressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Potential sex differences remain understudied: A case study of the inclusion of women in HIV/AIDS-related neuropsychological research.

As an illustration of women's representation in clinical research, a comprehensive literature review of HIV/AIDS-related neuropsychological research was conducted. The goals of this study were to document whether women have been included in (a) HIV-related neurological and neuropsychological research studies; (b) percentages comparable to their representation in the population of persons with HIV/AIDS; (c) studies using numbers sufficient to allow data analyses by sex (N≥30); and (d) data analyses conducted to examine sex differences. Women were included in half of the studies investigating neurological and neuropsychological manifestations of HIV between 1988 and 1997 (236 studies). However, their representation was inadequate to determine whether there were reliable sex differences in these complications. It is not simply enough to include more women; researchers must also strive to increase the quality of studies to ensure that women's contribution is clinically and empirically relevant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Women's health: Review and research agenda as we approach the 21st century.

This article reviews past research and projects future research directions regarding women's health. Sex differences in mortality and morbidity, along with evidence that the quality and quantity of these differences are changing, are examined. Over the past decade, concurrent with dramatic changes in lifestyle and social roles for women, mortality rates have shifted, resulting in a decreasing advantage for women. Explaining the consequences of these dynamic changes requires understanding the health effects of such variables as perceived control, the experience of life roles, perceived and actual social support, and redefinition of gender roles. The future portends additional changes that will significantly affect women's health. In establishing an explicit psychological research agenda on women's health, (a) general recommendations for research are provided and (b) important issues that have not yet received a great deal of research attention (e.g., women and acquired immune deficiency syndrome [AIDS], psychopharmacology, reproductive technologies) are highlighted. This article expands the current discourse in health psychology and raises a number of issues for serious consideration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal predictors of depression trajectories in women with HIV.

This article tests an interpersonal model of depression symptom trajectories tailored to the experiences of women with HIV. Specifically, the authors examined how bereavement, maternal role difficulty, HIV-related social isolation, and partner conflict predicted change in depressive symptoms over 5 years in 761 women with HIV, controlling for sociodemographic and clinical health factors. Of these interpersonal characteristics, partner conflict emerged as a robust predictor of change in depressive symptoms in growth curve and cross-lag models. Results highlight the need for interventions focusing on interpersonal issues, particularly intimate relationships, in women with HIV. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infant birth weight among women with or at high risk for HIV infection: The impact of clinical, behavioral, psychosocial, and demographic factors.

The purpose of these analyses was to provide a prospective examination of the impact of HIV on birth weight using clinical, behavioral, psychosocial, and demographic correlates. 319 HIV-positive and 220 HIV-negative pregnant women matched for HIV risk factors (i.e., drug use and sexual risk behaviors) were interviewed during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and 6 weeks postpartum. Medical chart reviews were also conducted for the HIV-seropositive pregnant women to verify pregnancy-related and birth outcome data. In a logistic regression analysis, controlling for parity and gestational age, women who were HIV seropositive were 2.6 times more likely to have an infant with low birth weight. Black women and those who did not live with their partners were more than 2 times as likely to have infants with low birth weight, and those who smoked were 3.2 times more likely to have infants with low birth weight. Knowing that women with HIV, those who are Black, and those not living with a partner are at highest risk for adverse birth outcomes can help those in prenatal clinics and HIV specialty clinics to target resources and develop prevention interventions. This is particularly important for women with HIV because birth weight is associated with risk of HIV transmission from mother to child. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of subjective and objective social status with psychological and physiological functioning: Preliminary data in healthy, White women.

This preliminary study compared the associations between objective and subjective socioeconomic status (SES) with psychological and physical variables among 157 healthy White women, 59 of whom subsequently participated in a laboratory stress study. Compared with objective indicators, subjective social status was more consistently and strongly related to psychological functioning and health-related factors (self-rated health, heart rate, sleep latency, body fat distribution, and cortisol habituation to repeated stress). Most associations remained significant even after controlling for objective social status and negative affectivity. Results suggest that, in this sample with a moderately restricted range on SES and health, psychological perceptions of social status may be contributing to the SES-health gradient. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prevalence, Course, and Predictors of Emotional Distress in Pregnant and Parenting Adolescents.

This study examines trajectories and correlates of emotional distress symptoms in pregnant adolescents (n = 203) and nulliparous adolescents (n = 188) from economically disadvantaged communities over an 18-month period. For both groups, the prevalence of significant emotional distress exceeded expectation based on adolescent norms; however, the severity of symptoms did not differ between the 2 groups. Results from growth curve modeling revealed a significant decline in symptoms during the study period for both groups, but pregnant adolescents experienced a different pattern of decline. Also, certain interpersonal factors (e.g., history of physical maltreatment, partner support) appeared to play a more important role in the emotional well-being of pregnant and parenting adolescents relative to nulliparous adolescents. Implications for early identification and intervention are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)