Predictors of Maintained High-Risk Behaviors among Impoverished Women

• Published in: Public health reports (1974) Vol. 110; no. 5; pp. 600 - 606
• Main Authors: Nyamathi, Adeline M., Crystal Bennett, Leake, Barbara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health 01.09.1995; Association of Schools of Public Health; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - prevention & control; Adult; African Americans; AIDS; Biological and medical sciences; Continental Population Groups; Crack Cocaine; Depressive disorders; Drug addiction; Female; Health Behavior; Health education; Health Education - organization & administration; Health risk assessment; HIV; Homeless people; Homeless Persons - psychology; Human sexual behavior; Humans; Injections; Medical sciences; Poverty; Predictive Value of Tests; Prevention and actions; Program Evaluation; Public health; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Risk-Taking; Scientific Contributions; Self esteem; Sexual behavior; Sexual partners; Sexually transmitted diseases; Specific populations (family, woman, child, elderly...); Substance-Related Disorders - complications; Substance-Related Disorders - psychology; Substance-Related Disorders - rehabilitation; Women; United States; North America; America; Human; Evaluation; Sanitary program; Drug addiction; Poverty; Sexual behavior; Prediction; Behavior change; Risk taking; Health education; Homeless; Woman; Public health
• ISSN: 0033-3549; 1468-2877

THE RESEARCHERS SOUGHT to explore and describe the demographic, cognitive, psychosocial, and behavioral factors associated with the continued risky behavior of a convenience sample of homeless and drug-addicted women two to four weeks after they had completed an AIDS education program. The sample included 942 crack users and 767 women who had multiple sex partners. Analyses revealed that impoverished women who maintained multiple sexual partners were less likely to be in drug recovery programs than in homeless shelters. They were more likely to share needles and be involved sexually with male injection drug users compared with impoverished women who did not maintain multiple sexual partners. Persistent crack users were older than those who reported cessation of crack use, were more often African American, and were more likely to have sex partners who were injecting drug users. Women who demonstrated less improvement in depression and distress scores, concerns, use of affective coping, appraisal of threat, and social support were more likely to maintain crack use and multiple partners. The study's implications for the design of intervention programs aimed at risk reduction based on ethnicity are discussed.