Over the last 6 years, we have successfully designed, implemented, and assessed the impact of an enhanced intervention program (Project TALC) with Parents with AIDS (PWA), their adolescent children (Youth of PWA), and the new Caregivers in a randomized controlled trial. The program successfully improved social, behavioral, and mental health outcomes for the Youth of PWA and the PWA over 36 months (92% follow-up); among 46% of the youth who were bereaved by the PWA's death, the intervention appears to have positive results over 18 months for the youth and their Caregivers. The impact of the intervention shifted over time: first problem behaviors increased and then by 12 months decreased over time, sustaining reductions over 36 months. Among the youth whose PWA continues to live (54%), AIDS is being perceived as a chronic illness. While being a successful intervention trial, the study has even greater potential benefits as the first prospective study of bereavement among adolescents and one of the first examining the impact of parental chronic illness on youth in the last 30 years. The potential importance of the cohort led the W.T. Grant Foundation to fund the recruitment of two matched comparison groups: a Neighborhood Control Group and a Chronic Illness Control Group. Thus, we are positioned to examine the transition into early adulthood among four important subgroups of youth: 1) AIDS Bereaved Youth (N=174); 2) Youth of Chronically Ill-PWA (CI-PWA) (N=237); 3) Neighborhood Controls (N=200); and 4) Chronic Illness Controls (N=200). Over the next 3 years, we propose to assess these four subgroups of youth in the following domains at 6-month intervals: a) developmentally-linked tasks of early adulthood (the quality of intimate romantic relationships, parenting, vocational plans); b) indices of social, behavioral, and mental health adjustment; c) the adjustment of the youth's Infant Offspring in terms of attachment, parenting skills, developmental accomplishments; and d) mediating factors including social roles, identities, and grief. These assessments will allow us to examine two major sets of questions: 1) the impact of AIDS on adolescents, both in circumstances of parental death and as chronic illness; and 2) the long term efficacy of an intervention for Youth of PWA.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH049958-10
Application #
6330263
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-AARR-8 (03))
Program Officer
Steinberg, Louis H
Project Start
1993-03-01
Project End
2002-11-30
Budget Start
2000-12-01
Budget End
2001-11-30
Support Year
10
Fiscal Year
2001
Total Cost
$1,131,861
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Los Angeles
Department
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
119132785
City
Los Angeles
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
90095
Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane; Rhodes, Fen; Desmond, Katherine et al. (2010) Reducing HIV risks among active injection drug and crack users: the safety counts program. AIDS Behav 14:658-68
Stein, Judith A; Milburn, Norweeta G; Zane, Jazmin I et al. (2009) Paternal and maternal influences on problem behaviors among homeless and runaway youth. Am J Orthopsychiatry 79:39-50
Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane; Ingram, Barbara L; Swendeman, Dallas et al. (2009) Common principles embedded in effective adolescent HIV prevention programs. AIDS Behav 13:387-98
Ingram, Barbara L; Flannery, Diane; Elkavich, Amy et al. (2008) Common processes in evidence-based adolescent HIV prevention programs. AIDS Behav 12:374-83
Lee, Sung-Jae; Detels, Roger; Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane et al. (2007) The effect of social support on mental and behavioral outcomes among adolescents with parents with HIV/AIDS. Am J Public Health 97:1820-6
Lee, Sung-Jae; Detels, Roger; Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane et al. (2007) Depression and social support among HIV-affected adolescents. AIDS Patient Care STDS 21:409-17
Milburn, Norweeta G; Rosenthal, Doreen; Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane et al. (2007) Newly homeless youth typically return home. J Adolesc Health 40:574-6
Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane; Klosinski, Lee E; Etzel, Mark A (2007) Differences between proof-of-concept studies and effective implementation: routine, opt-out HIV testing in emergency departments. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 46:381-3
Stein, Judith A; Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane; Lester, Patricia (2007) Impact of parentification on long-term outcomes among children of parents with HIV/AIDS. Fam Process 46:317-33
Milburn, Norweeta G; Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane; Rice, Eric et al. (2006) Cross-national variations in behavioral profiles among homeless youth. Am J Community Psychol 37:63-76

Showing the most recent 10 out of 38 publications