Outcomes of specialized and traditional AIDS counseling programs for impoverished women of color

Abstract

The efficacy and differential effects of specialized (S) and traditional (T) AIDS education programs on cognitive, behavioral, and psychological outcomes were investigated. The sample consisted of 858 impoverished African-American and Latina women (S = 448, T = 410). At baseline, women in the traditional group reported significantly higher distress, greater knowledge of AIDS, and less problem-focused coping. Significant improvements over the 2-week intervention interval were found for participants of both AIDS education programs for appraisal of threat, concerns, knowledge, and attitudes about AIDS, emotion-focused coping, number of sexual partners, IV and non-IV drug use, depression, and distress. However, multivariate analysis indicated that the traditional group had slightly better posttest scores on concerns, emotion-focused coping, knowledge of AIDS, and number of partners than the specialized group. The specialized group reported greater use of problem-focused coping. These differences do not detract from the substantial improvement found for both groups, but they do reinforce the conclusion that the specialized program was not more effective than its standard counterpart.

Perceived Factors Influencing the Initiation of Drug and Alcohol Use Among Homeless Women and Reported Consequences of Use

“…The scars of abuse may well produce lower self-esteem and emotional problems that often go untreated in this population of women. As a result, the emotional, psychic, and often physical scars of abuse fuel the need to escape mentioned so often by users (Anglin et al, 1987;Miller et al, 1989;Nyamathi, Leake, Flaskerud, Lewis & Bennett, 1993;Shuler, 1991). The flip side of escape is the desire to fit in.…”

Cross-sectional and Longitudinal associations in coping strategies and physical health outcomes among HIV-Positive youth

“…Based on the stress-coping paradigm (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984), intervention programs have been designed to encourage adaptive coping strategies among those at risk of contracting HIV (e.g., Nyamathi et al, 1993;Malow et al, 1994;Nyamathi and Stein, 1997), and among people living with HIV (e.g., Chesney et al, 1996;Rotheram-Borus et al, 2001a,b). Coping styles are considered to be more amenable to intervention than other more enduring personality traits (Burgess et al, 2000).…”

Change in AIDS risk behaviors among impoverished minority women after a community-based cognitive-behavioral outreach program

“…Those women who spoke only Spanish received the entire intervention program in Spanish. The women then received the Traditional or Specialized intervention program (Nyamathi, Leake, et al, 1993). Each nurse and outreach worker worked with only one type of program, but delivered the program in several community homeless shelters and drug recovery programs.…”

“…Data were obtained from a larger investigation which intervened among a community sample of minority homeless and drug-addicted women in Los Angeles at high risk of contracting AIDS (Nyamathi, Leake, Flaskerud, Lewis, & Bennett, 1993). This larger sample of impoverished African American and Latina women obtained from shelters and residential drug treatment programs was exposed to one of two culturally sensitive intervention groups.…”