An intervention for changing high-risk HIV behaviors of African American drug-dependent women

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of an AIDS education intervention for methadone-dependent, African American women. The women were randomly assigned to experimental (n=107) or control (n=97) group. The experimental group participated in a peer counseling and leadership training program conducted by two experienced nurse counselors over an 8-week period, followed by 8 weeks of reinforcement. The program was designed to reduce AIDS high-risk sexual behavior, increase self-esteem, decrease depressive affect, and increase the women's community-based AIDS prevention communication activities. A total of 130 women completed all phases of the study, including longitudinal Posttests at 2, 4, and 7 months after enrollment. Compared to the control group, there were statistically significant differences in three of the outcomes for the experimental group: The experimental group reported an increased number of safer sexual behaviors (p=.029), showed decreases in depression (p=.001), and reported engaging in more AIDS-related, community-based communication activities regarding prevention (p=.005).