As HIV infection continues to spread among women and people of color, it is important to develop interventions to reduce the incidence of risky sex and drug-related practices, improve HIV treatment adherence, and promote health care utilization. One factor not typically addressed in current interventions for women is child sexual abuse (CSA), an important predictor of high-risk sexual behaviors, substance use, and psychological sequelae. This revised proposal, a 4-year randomized clinical trial of a behavioral risk-reduction intervention builds on findings from the Women & Family Project (WFP), a natural history study of how HIV affects women, and other research. Specifically, we propose to develop and test an Enhanced Sexual Health Intervention (ESH), designed to reduce behavioral and interpersonal risks and increase health behaviors. After piloting a 12-week intervention on a multi-ethnic sample of 25 HIV-positive women (9 African Americans, 8 Latinas, 8 European Americans), we will recruit 220 HIV-positive women: 65 African American, 64 Latina and 65 European American women-110 from the WFP with CSA and 110 that are newly recruited with CSA. These women will be randomly assigned to 2 treatment conditions: a Basic Intervention (B), a usual-care/information control, and the Enhanced Sexual Health Intervention (ESH). The 12-week intervention includes pre- and post-testing, and 1- and 3-month follow-up for the B condition, followed by the 12-week ESH intervention. The B condition will then receive the 12-week intervention, followed by the 1-, 3-, and 6-month follow-ups. Each condition will be compared using a combination of univariate and multivariate procedures to determine whether 1) The ESH differentially reduces behavioral and interpersonal risks and promotes healthy behaviors; 2) the ESH yields differential outcomes as a function of language, ethnicity, drug use history, severity of abuse, disease, and relationship status, and, 3) the treatment outcomes are mediated by changes in self-efficacy, acquisition of new risk reduction skills, changes in sexual health domains, or changes in affective states (e.g., depression, anxiety, and psychological well-being). This project will generate a well-tested, women-centered curriculum that can be used in other HIV interventions or in HIV clinics with multi-ethnic samples of women, and help to broaden our understanding of consensual and non-consensual sexual experiences that contribute to sexual and drug-related risk taking, HIV treatment non-adherence, and ineffective health care utilization.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH059496-04
Application #
6538905
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-AARR-8 (01))
Program Officer
Gordon, Christopher M
Project Start
1999-09-20
Project End
2005-05-31
Budget Start
2002-07-12
Budget End
2005-05-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2002
Total Cost
$630,616
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Los Angeles
Department
Type
Other Domestic Higher Education
DUNS #
119132785
City
Los Angeles
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
90095
Wyatt, Gail E; Hamilton, Alison B; Myers, Hector F et al. (2011) Violence prevention among HIV-positive women with histories of violence: healing women in their communities. Womens Health Issues 21:S255-60
Liu, Honghu; Longshore, Doug; Williams, John K et al. (2006) Substance abuse and medication adherence among HIV-positive women with histories of child sexual abuse. AIDS Behav 10:279-86
Myers, Hector F; Wyatt, Gail E; Loeb, Tamra Burns et al. (2006) Severity of child sexual abuse, post- traumatic stress and risky sexual behaviors among HIV-positive women. AIDS Behav 10:191-9
Wyatt, Gail E; Longshore, Douglas; Chin, Dorothy et al. (2004) The efficacy of an integrated risk reduction intervention for HIV-positive women with child sexual abuse histories. AIDS Behav 8:453-62
Rodriguez, Norma; Mira, Consuelo Bingham; Myers, Hector F et al. (2003) Family or friends: who plays a greater supportive role for Latino college students? Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol 9:236-50
Wyatt, Gail E; Myers, Hector F; Williams, John K et al. (2002) Does a history of trauma contribute to HIV risk for women of color? Implications for prevention and policy. Am J Public Health 92:660-5