The fastest growing group of persons with AIDS are heterosexual women, yet little research has effectively addressed this population's needs. In the United States, 20,000 women have been diagnosed with AIDS, representing 11% of all AIDS cases. In Rhode Island, the situation is particularly acute with a 17% incidence of AIDS in women. Empirical research is needed to understand and effectively reduce the risks of HIV transmission in heterosexual women. This project is designed to achieve four goals to address HIV-risk in heterosexual women: (1) measurement assessment for several newly created instruments; (2) conceptual model testing to determine the best predictors of HIV-risk in women; (3) establishing baseline, normative HIV-risk behavior in women; and (4) evaluating the natural progression of behavior change over time. These will be accomplished in two longitudinal studies, both examining a community sample of over 400 women who are at risk for HIV. Study 1 will evaluate reliability and validity for several newly created measures and will use longitudinal structural modeling methods to assess several theoretical models concerned with social learning theory, the transtheoretical stages of change model, and women's research. Measures include a dependent variable of heterosexual high-risk behaviors and 9 sets of independent variables: (1) Psychosocial Functioning, (2) Sexual Assertiveness, (3) Relationships, (4) Substance Abuse, (5) Coping and Health, (6) Psychosexual Attitudes, (7) Self-Efficacy for HIV-prevention, (8) Perceived Advantages of Condom Use, and (9) Perceived Disadvantages of Condom Use. Study 2 examines baseline data for women at Time 1 and compares this to data at Times 2 & 3, collected at 6 month intervals. Predictors of change over time will be examined, as will several aspects of the Transtheoretical Stages of Change model (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983, 1984). Information from these studies will help to plan effective interventions to help prevent the spread of HIV-infection in women.
