The broad, long-term objective of the proposed research is to establish primary preventive interventions to reduce human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk behavior among drug-using minority women. Recent studies indicate that high rates of sexual risk behavior occur within drug-using minority women's primary heterosexual relationships. Based on an integrated theory of HIV risk behavior, it is predicted that a) interventions administered to couples rather than to women only, and b) interventions that focus on relationship dynamics in the context of HIV risk, will result in a reduction of sexual risk behavior among drug-using women and their primary partners. This four-year study will employ a randomized controlled trial (RCT) 3-group design to test the efficacy of HIV intervention modality (couples versus women-only) and intervention content (relationship-focused versus standard HIV counseling and testing) on crack, cocaine and heroine (injected and noninjected) using women's sexual risk with primary partners. A total of 390 women drug-users and their partners will be recruited from the streets of East Harlem, New York City. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three HIV intervention conditions: a) couples, relationship-focused; b) women-only, relationship-focused; or, c) women-only standard HIV-CT (control). All subjects will be administered baseline, 3-month, and 9-month follow-up assessments using a combination of computerassisted personal interview (CAPI) and computer-assisted self interview (CASI) techniques. In addition to sociodemographic characteristics, the interview will measure drug-use patterns, HIV risk behavior, and dyadic- and individual-level variables operationalized to test specific hypotheses of women's HIV risk behavior and behavior change. In addition to testing the effectiveness of the experimental interventions, data analyses will determine the theory-driven psychosocial mechanisms that act to mediate and moderate any observed association between intervention treatment and subsequent risk reduction. Incremental cost-effectiveness analyses will also be performed.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DA015641-04
Application #
7090125
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-AARR (08))
Program Officer
Crump, Aria
Project Start
2003-09-26
Project End
2008-06-30
Budget Start
2006-07-01
Budget End
2008-06-30
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2006
Total Cost
$586,099
Indirect Cost
Name
National Development & Research Institutes
Department
Type
DUNS #
080481880
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10010
McMahon, James M; Chimenti, Ruth; Trabold, Nicole et al. (2017) Risk of Intimate Partner Violence and Relationship Conflict Following Couple-Based HIV Prevention Counseling: Results From the Harlem River Couples Project. J Interpers Violence 32:3709-3734
McMahon, James M; Volpe, Ellen M; Klostermann, Keith et al. (2015) A systematic review of the psychometric properties of the Sexual Relationship Power Scale in HIV/AIDS research. Arch Sex Behav 44:267-94
McMahon, James M; Pouget, Enrique R; Tortu, Stephanie et al. (2015) Couple-based HIV counseling and testing: a risk reduction intervention for US drug-involved women and their primary male partners. Prev Sci 16:341-51
McMahon, James M; Tortu, Stephanie; Pouget, Enrique R et al. (2013) Effectiveness of Couple-Based HIV Counseling and Testing for Women Substance Users and Their Primary Male Partners: A Randomized Trial. Adv Prev Med 2013:286207
McMahon, James M; Morrow, Kathleen M; Weeks, Margaret et al. (2011) Potential impact of vaginal microbicides on HIV risk among women with primary heterosexual partners. J Assoc Nurses AIDS Care 22:9-16
McMahon, James M; Pouget, Enrique R; Tortu, Stephanie (2006) A guide for multilevel modeling of dyadic data with binary outcomes using SAS PROC NLMIXED. Comput Stat Data Anal 50:3663-3680