Violence and HIV Risk Among Women

The two foremost health problems impacting young adult women are STDs/HIV infection and intimate partner violence (IPV). STDs pose a significant public health issue in the US, particularly among women. The consequences of some STDs are more severe for women, and include infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease, and brain, cardiovascular, and organ damage. Women with STDs are at increased risk for HIV. The proportion of AIDS cases among US adult and adolescent women has more than tripled since 1985. Approximately 12,000 US women are infected with HIV annually, primarily through heterosexual contact. Also, in the US HIV is particularly affecting women of color and those in low-income urban areas.

IPV also affects many women. While the causal links between IPV and HIV risk or infection have not yet been established, emerging empirical evidence has drawn connections between IPV with HIV risk. Several researchers have highlighted the importance of developing sexual risk reduction interventions that address the growing concern of gender-based violence against women. Also, scholars are calling for HIV prevention programs aimed at women to be more comprehensive; for example, by combining them with STD screening or with programs designed to reduce violence against women. Despite this call, there are very few empirically tested interventions for prevention and treatment targeting women who are at risk for STDs/HIV and experience IPV in their intimate relationships. To address high risk sexual behaviors among women who experience gender-based violence in their intimate relationships, I have adapted an existing information-motivation-behavioral skills (IMB) STD/HIV prevention intervention for reducing high sexual risk-taking behaviors. The STD/HIV and IPV comprehensive intervention will address both sexual risk reduction and IPV risk; the intention is to help women to acquire knowledge, skills, and strategies that will reduce their risk for both STDs/HIV and IPV.

Aim 1: To assess the feasibility and acceptability of the adapted IMB STD/HIV prevention intervention by implementing the intervention with a sample of women who are at risk for HIV/STDs and experience IPV. To achieve this aim:

1. 120 women who are at risk for HIV/STDs and have experienced IPV will be randomized either to receive the experimental prevention intervention or to attend a structurally similar drop-in enhanced support group at a domestic violence agency.
2. Enrollment, attendance, and attrition data will be used to determine the feasibility of the intervention.
3. The acceptability of the intervention will be appraised by analyzing pre- and post-intervention acceptability ratings completed by subjects and interventionists.

Aim 2: To gather preliminary evidence of the efficacy of the theoretically guided intervention using a controlled design. To achieve this aim:

1. Women in the experimental and control groups will be assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and at a 3-month follow-up.
2. Outcome analyses to calculate effect sizes for use in future power analyses for a larger RCT of the proposed intervention will include measures on primary variables of hypothesized risk antecedents, standard measures of protected and unprotected sex, and secondary variables such as mental health, self esteem, and IPV experiences.