NCJ Number
161033
Journal
Public Health Reports Volume: 110 Issue: 5 Dated: (September/October 1995) Pages: 600-606
Date Published
1995
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This research explored demographic, cognitive, psychosocial, and behavioral factors associated with the continued risky behavior of a convenience sample of homeless and drug-addicted women 2 to 4 weeks after they completed an AIDS education program.
Abstract
The sample included 942 crack users and 767 women with multiple sex partners who resided in the Los Angeles area. Analysis revealed that impoverished women who maintained multiple sex 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 to impoverished women who did not have multiple sex partners. Persistent crack users were older than those who reported they stopped using crack, 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, use of affective coping, appraisal of threat, and social support were more likely to maintain crack use and multiple sex partners. The fact that women residing in drug recovery programs were at less risk for HIV transmission than women residing in homeless shelters may have reflected limited visitation rights imposed by most shelters and violation of residency rules for continuing drug use. Nonetheless, results underscored the growing body of literature that indicates homeless women are at increased risk for AIDS through their own injection drug use and indirectly through heterosexual exposure to injection drug-using partners. The study's implications for the design of intervention programs aimed at risk reduction based on ethnicity are discussed. 37 references and 5 tables