An Integrated HIV Risk Reduction Intervention for Women with a History of Intimate Partner Violence: Pilot Test Results

Abstract

There are few HIV risk reduction interventions to meet the unique needs of women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV). This pilot study tested the feasibility, safety, and preliminary effects of an integrated IPV-sexual risk reduction intervention for abused women. Fifty-five women were randomized to the supporting positive and healthy relationships (SUPPORT) intervention (n = 27) or to a control group (n = 28). Assessments were conducted pre- and post-intervention and at 3-month follow-up. Post-intervention, SUPPORT participants showed a significant decrease in frequency of unprotected sex and an increase in safer sex communications with steady and other sexual partners. Compared to the control group, SUPPORT participants reported a higher number of safer sex conversations with their steady partner at the 3-month follow-up, and fewer episodes of IPV at both assessments in comparison to baseline. They showed improvements in sexual relationship power at both follow-ups and in several hypothesized antecedents of HIV-risk behavior. These encouraging preliminary findings suggest the need for a larger clinical trial.

Integrated Multicomponent Interventions for Safety and Health Risks Among Black Female Survivors of Violence: A Systematic Review

“…Two studies targeted stress and one reproductive health. The combination of outcomes assessed were violence and mental health in six studies (Coker et al, 2012; El-Mohandes et al, 2008; Fallot et al, 2012; Johnson et al, 2011; Joseph et al, 2009; Zlotnick, Capezza, & Parker, 2011), violence, mental health, and HIV risk in one study (Gilbert et al, 2006), mental health and HIV risk in four studies (Cocozza et al, 2005; Ghee et al, 2009; Rountree et al, 2014; Zhang et al, 2013), violence and HIV risk in two studies (Mittal et al, 2017; Rhodes et al, 2015), stress and mental health in two studies (Dutton et al, 2013; Nicolaidis et al, 2012), and violence and reproductive health in one study (Kiely, El-Mohandes, El-Khorazaty, & Gantz, 2010). …”

“…With the exception of TREM (Fallot et al, 2011), all studies assessing future safety focused on IPV. The eligibility criteria for including women in the intervention trial was only IPV (Coker et al, 2012), both IPV and drug/alcohol use (Gilbert et al, 2006; Rhodes et al, 2015), IPV and sexual risk behavior (Mittal et al, 2017), IPV and PTSD (Johnson et al, 2011), or IPV as one of the risks (i.e., active smoking, depression, environmental tobacco exposure; El-Mohandes et al, 2008; Joseph et al, 2009; Kiely et al, 2010). TREM (Fallot et al, 2014) participants had a history of physical and/or sexual abuse and a co-occurring mental health and substance abuse problem.…”

Pilot Test of an Adapted, Evidence-Based Intervention for Preventing HIV for Women Residing in Domestic Violence Shelters

“…To improve intervention adoption, HIV prevention interventions for abused women need to be designed and conducted with the intervention consumers in mind, including the program providers (Glasgow et al, 2013). Yet, many HIV prevention interventions for abused women have not assessed intervention facilitators’ views about the intervention (Johnson et al, 2017; Mittal et al, 2016; Rountree et al, 2014), even though facilitators’ views about intervention programs may influence their adoption of the intervention. Thus, this study’s assessment of intervention facilitators’ views about the A-EBI extends the extant literature.…”

“…There is an absence of HIV prevention evidence-based interventions (EBIs) specifically for women who experience IPV (Johnson, Johnson, Beckwith, Palmieri, & Zlotnick, 2017; Laughon, Sutherland, & Parker, 2011; Mittal et al, 2016; Prowse, Logue, Fantasia, & Sutherland, 2014; Rountree, Bagwell, Theall, McElhaney, & Brown, 2014). Two group interventions were found to significantly reduce some HIV risk behaviors and some antecedents of HIV risk behavior such as HIV knowledge and condom use self-efficacy among abused women (Fisher & Fisher, 1992; Mittal et al, 2016; Rountree et al, 2014). However, the interventions were lengthy and poor intervention attendance was noted (Mittal et al, 2016; Rountree et al, 2014).…”

“…Two group interventions were found to significantly reduce some HIV risk behaviors and some antecedents of HIV risk behavior such as HIV knowledge and condom use self-efficacy among abused women (Fisher & Fisher, 1992; Mittal et al, 2016; Rountree et al, 2014). However, the interventions were lengthy and poor intervention attendance was noted (Mittal et al, 2016; Rountree et al, 2014). One (Johnson et al, 2017) of two (Laughon et al, 2011) brief individual-level interventions showed significant improvements in preventing HIV risk behaviors among 98 women residing in a domestic violence shelter, but that study lacked a control group so the findings can only be considered preliminary and warrant testing in a randomized controlled trial to determine the intervention’s true efficacy.…”