Infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is an increasing public health concern among women. At the beginning of the HIV epidemic relatively few women were infected. However, women currently comprise over a quarter of new diagnoses and the primary mode of infection is heterosexual contact (CDC, 2006). Methamphetamine (MA) is a drug of abuse that has been shown to increase sexual risk behaviors among women (Klee, 1993;Lorvick, Martinez, &Laurne, 2006;Molitor, Truaz, Ruiz, &Sun, 1998;Rawson, Washton, Domier, &Reiber, 2002;Semple, Grant, &Patterson, 2004) and unlike other illicit drugs women appear to be using MA in equal portions to men (Cardona, 2007). Current data indicate that women account for 40% of stimulant related emergency department visits and 45% of MA treatment admissions in the United States (SAMHSA, 2004). Researchers are increasingly recognizing the importance of contextual factors, including power, as essential to understanding HIV risk behaviors among women (Amaro, 1995;Bourgois, 1995;Bourgois, Prince, &Moss, 2004;Epele, 2002;Farmer, Connors, &Simmons, 1996;Gomez &Marin, 1996;Kershaw et al., 2006;Wingood &Di Clemente, 2000;Wingood &DiClemente, 2002). However, few empirical studies have investigated power and its relationship to HIV risk behaviors among drug using women. This study proposes to draw upon structural, psychosocial and behavioral theories to guide the understanding of power among a sample of non-injecting female MA users.
The aim of this project is to better understand how power impacts female MA users in relation to drug abuse and HIV-related sex risk behaviors. Through using mixed methods this grant will address the following aims: 1) to understand and describe the multi-level power issues that are salient for MA using women;2) to modify the SRPS that assesses interpersonal power for this population and to operationalize three additional levels of power (structural, cultural and individual);3) to assess preliminary psychometric properties of the modified power scale;4) to explore the prevalence of power issues in this population and their relationship to drug use and HIV-related sex risk behaviors;and 5) to identify intervention strategies that will target the salient levels of power for this population. To date, methodological and empirical research on power is limited and there are no empirical studies of power with MA using women. The preliminary development of an innovative measure to assess power dynamics among MA using women is necessary in order to obtain further empirical information on the relationship between multiple levels of power, drug use and HIV sex risk behaviors. Future research would include validating this scale among other subpopulations and using information from the study to develop an HIV prevention intervention for out-of treatment MA using women that is founded on a multi-level theory of power that could be tested in a larger clinical control trial.
With the increase of HIV infection among women and the prevalence of high risk sex behaviors among methamphetamine (MA) using women, researchers must strive to better understand contextual issues that impact risk behaviors among this population. Through using mixed methods, this study proposes to operationalize and develop a scale to assess power issues for this population on four levels: structural, cultural, interpersonal and individual and to identify relevant intervention strategies to impact the salient levels of power. Future research would include validating this scale among other subpopulations and using information from the study to develop an HIV prevention intervention founded on multi-level theory of power that could be tested in a larger clinical control trial.
