This five year longitudinal project has two major goals. The first is to examine psychosocial (personality, family, peer, context) factors related to HIV transmission behaviors in female drug abusers to determine if there are differences between those who engage in these behaviors and those who do not. Of particular interest will be comparisons between those already infected with AIDS and those who have tested negative. It may be that different factors explain continued transmission behavior in infected individuals who knowingly impose risk on others as opposed to noninfected individuals who continue to place themselves at risk for infection. The second major goal is to determine whether certain interpersonal (family, peer, context) factors can help individuals cope more effectively at different stages of AIDS, starting with those who test negative but must deal with being at-risk for infection and ending with those most severely ill from the disease. the sample for this study consists of 400 female drug abusers recruited from outpatient Methadone and AIDS clinics in a large city hospital. They will be mainly in their 30s, ethnically-mixed, and from low SES backgrounds. Face-to-face structured interviews will be conducted with the subjects twice. In addition, validation data will be collected from """"""""significant others"""""""" in the subjects' lives. The longitudinal design of the study is essential in order to sort out the complexities of antecedents and consequences in subjects whose physical and emotional states may vary widely over time given the nature of HIV infection. The basic methodology to be used for data analysis will consist primarily of causal analysis and/or hierarchical multiple regression, and standard multiple logistic regression analysis. The significance of this project is three-fold. First, the designation of specific factors that lead to decreased transmission behaviors should greatly assist in more effective targeting of public health efforts to slow or prevent HIV contagion in high risk groups. Second, given the large number of people who currently (and in the future) must deal with having, or being at risk for, AIDS, it is crucial to discovery ways for health practitioners to strengthen the ability of patients to cope with the enormous life stresses attendant upon the disease. Third, we will be able to compare our findings with female IVDAs to our ongoing study of male IVDAs.
| Brook, D W; Brook, J S; Richter, L et al. (2000) Needle sharing: a longitudinal study of female injection drug users. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse 26:263-81 |
| Brook, D W; Brook, J S; Whiteman, M et al. (1999) Coping among HIV negative and HIV positive female injection drug users. AIDS Educ Prev 11:262-73 |
| Pressman, M A; Brook, D W (1999) A multiple group psychotherapy approach to adolescents with psychiatric and substance abuse comorbidity. Int J Group Psychother 49:486-512 |
| Brook, D W; Brook, J S; Richter, L et al. (1999) Coping strategies of HIV-positive and HIV-negative female injection drug users: a longitudinal study. AIDS Educ Prev 11:373-88 |
| Brook, D W; Brook, J S; Whiteman, M et al. (1998) Psychosocial risk and protective factors for condom use among female injection drug users. Am J Addict 7:115-27 |
| Brook, D W; Brook, J S; Whiteman, M et al. (1997) Psychosocial risk factors for HIV transmission in female drug abusers. Am J Addict 6:124-34 |
