Philadelphia Collaborative Perinatal Project: Economic, Social, and Psychological Consequences of Adolescent Childbearing, 1959-1965

Investigators: Jeanne Marecek

This study examined the consequences of adolescent childbearing for mothers and for their children. The study sample included 2,178 Philadelphia women, primarily black, who were age 25 or younger at the birth of their first child. Data were obtained through interviews and medical examinations, and cover the socioeconomic circumstances of the mother during pregnancy and seven years later, as well as the intellectual and behavioral status of the child at birth and at ages 8 months, 4 years, and 7 years. Note for users of DAAPPP Data Sets #01-B1DAAPPP data sets 01 through B1 are comprised of a User's Guide, SPSS syntax files (*.SPS or *.SPX) and raw data files only. Most of these datasets contain SPSS syntax files that use Job Control Language (JCL) from 1980s versions of SPSS-X. Because the syntax is old, the syntax files require editing to conform to the current syntax standards used by SPSS/Windows or SPSS/Unix. If you require technical assistance in using or editing these syntax files, please contact Sociometrics' Data Support Group at 800.846.3475 or socio@socio.com.

Philadelphia Study of Premarital Sex Relations and Pregnancy Among Puerto Rican Youths, 1980-1985

Investigators: Manuel J. Gutierrez, Braulio Montalvo, Kay Armstrong, David Webb and Gary Pickens

The present study examines the health and social consequences of adolescent premarital sexual relations on a sample of Puerto Rican youths. Investigators used a longitudinal design, covering a five-year period to answer the following questions: Of what consequence are adolescent premarital sexual relations on personal, familial, peer, and sociocultural factors in the lives of Puerto Rican youths as they enter into early adulthood? How do the experiences and consequences of adolescent premarital sexual relations differ by gender for the youths in the study? What are the personal, familial, and cultural factors associated with premarital sexual relations among Puerto Rican adolescents? What is the role of peers and other institutional sectors in the initiation or postponement of premarital sexual relations? The data in waves 1 through 3 (1980-1982) were originally collected by investigators M. Gutierrez and B. Montalvo as a study entitled Dropping Out and Delinquency Among Puerto Rican Youths: A Longitudinal Study. Waves 1 through 3 include information from both the respondent and a parent (usually the mother). The study includes variables on educational status and delinquent behavior, as well as variables which tap into intra-familial processes, family interfaces with school and community, and peer influences. In addition, questionnaires obtained standard demographic data such as age, sex, marital status, socioeconomic status, parents' educational and work status, family language, and number of years in the United States. The average ages of youths interviewed in waves 1 through 3 were 16.5, 17.5, and 18.5 respectively. Data from wave 4, collected when the youths were an average age of 21, documents the sexual behavior histories of a subsample of the youths interviewed in waves 1 through 3. Wave 4 contains data only from the youths. In this final wave, investigators documented not only the occurrence of premarital sexual behavior, but also the nature of the experience and relationship with the sexual partner. Information was collected on the youth's health status and economic well-being, along with extensive contraceptive, pregnancy, and birth histories. A number of items pertaining to educational and employment histories, family relations, drug and alcohol use, trouble with the law, aspirations for future, and cultural identification were included in the questionnaire.

Poder Latino: A Community AIDS Prevention Program for Inner-City Latino Youth

Investigators: Hispanic Office of Planning & Evaluation and New England Research Institutes

This multifaceted community-based intervention targets Latino youth, ages 14 to 20, at elevated risk for HIV/AIDS. One goal of the program is to increase awareness of the disease by saturating target neighborhoods with public service announcements broadcasting risk reduction messages. In addition, the program aims to reduce infection by encouraging sexually active teens to use condoms. Project messages are reinforced through ongoing activities conducted by specially-trained peer leaders, including workshops in schools, community organizations, and health centers, group discussions in teens' homes, presentations at large community centers, and door-to-door canvassing. At all activities, condoms are available, along with pamphlets explaining their correct use. In a field study of the intervention in Boston, MA, researchers compared the sexual behavior of teens in the target community and a similar, control community. At the 18-month follow-up assessment, the intervention appeared to reduce the incidence of multiple sexual partners among females and delay the onset of sexual activity among males. Click here to view more detailed information on this program.

Point for Point

Investigators: San Francisco AIDS Foundation HIV Prevention Project & The Prevention Point Research Group

Point for Point is a needle exchange intervention designed for implementation in street settings. Needle exchange operates on the premise that increased availability of sterile syringes can reduce the prevalence of needle-sharing among injection drug users (IDUs). Needle sharing, the use of the same syringe by more than one person, is associated with high rates of transmission of infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Point for Point relies on trained volunteers to operate exchange sites at which sterile hypodermic syringes are exchanged for used syringes on a one-for-one basis. Volunteers also distribute condoms and provide exchangers with bleach, alcohol swabs, sterile cotton, and other materials associated with safer drug-injection techniques. Point for Point was evaluated under the name Prevention Point in connection with the Urban Health Study (UHS), a long-term study of the IDU community in San Francisco, CA. Data collected through UHS surveys revealed that Point for Point quickly became the principal source of sterile syringes for San Francisco IDUs, and that IDUs who reported regular use of the needle exchange were significantly less likely to report needle-sharing than IDUs who did not use the needle exchange. Participants also reported a significant drop in the median number of daily injections, and the proportion of respondents who reported their first injection behavior in the previous year dropped significantly. An overall decline in reported needle sharing was also observed (Watters, 1996; Watters, Estillo, Clark and Lorvick, 1994). Click here to view more detailed information on this program.

Project SAFE (P-SAFE)

Investigators: Tamara Kuhn, Charles Klein, Alejandra Moreno, and Carmela Lomonaco

Project SAFE is a computer-delivered HIV/STI prevention program specifically designed for Latinas available in both English and Spanish. P-SAFE includes videos of individual women speaking candidly about HIV/STI-related topics in their lives and communities, skills instruction by the health educator, groups of women practicing condom skills, and role-play and novela vignettes demonstrating intervention themes.

Project SAFE: Sexual Awareness For Everyone An Intervention to Prevent STDs Among Minority Women

Investigators: Rochelle N. Shain, Reyes Ramos, Sondra T. Perdue, & Edward R. Newton

Developed for use in public health clinics, PROJECT S.A.F.E. is a three session cognitive-behavioral intervention designed to reduce STD infections among Hispanic and African American women. Sessions are designed to facilitate skill development to avoid infections while increasing awareness that STDs (including AIDS) disproportionately affect minority women. The intervention also helps build decision-making and communication skills, and encourages participants to set risk reduction goals. Participants gain mastery through role-play, group discussion, and behavioral skills exercises. The original evaluation, conducted in metropolitan San Antonio, TX, between 1993 and 1994, included 617 Hispanic and African American women. Participants were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (n=313) or the control group (n=304). Intervention group participants took part in three small-group sessions while their control group counterparts received standard STD counseling. Program participants showed a lower rate of infection as well as a better understanding of risky sexual behavior as compared to the control group. Click here to view more detailed information on this program.

Protect and Respect

Investigators: Michelle Teti, Linda Lloyd, Susan Rubinstein, Lisa Bowleg, Mary Ann Nkansa, Russell Cole, Zekarias Berhane, Erika Aaron, Ann Ricksecker, Marla Gold, Susan Spencer, Rhonda Ferguson, Dianne Rorie

PROTECT AND RESPECT, a clinic-based, behavioral intervention, aims to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV by decreasing high-risk behaviors among women living with HIV/AIDS. The intervention delivers HIV prevention messages in the following three ways: (1) a primary care provider counsels participants during health care visits; (2) an Intervention Specialist leads five group skills building sessions that teach skills to reduce sexual risk behaviors; and (3) Peer Educators conduct weekly discussion groups, which support participants. attempts to implement behaviors learned in the group skills building sessions. The program provider delivers a one-time, brief prevention message lasting 3 . 5 minutes, while the group skills building sessions consist of five 2-hour weekly educational sessions delivered over a 5-week period. The peer-led support groups meet weekly for 1-hour, beginning after the group skills building sessions have concluded, and may extend for as long as the program is in effect. During support group sessions, women are provided with an opportunity to discuss specific topics such as HIV risk reduction strategies, how to disclose, handling stress, or communicating with partners. Click here to view more detailed information on this program.

Real Men Are Safe (REMAS)

Investigators: Donald A. Calsyn, PhD, Mary Hatch-Maillette, PhD, Susan Tross, PhD, Suzanne R. Doyle, PhD, Yong S. Song, PhD, Judy M. Harrer, PhD, Genise Lalos, MA, Sara B. Berns, PhD

REMAS is a group-level, clinic-based behavioral intervention designed to reduce HIV/STI risk among male substance abuse treatment center attendees. More specifically, the program aims to reduce the number of times that men engage in unprotected vaginal and anal sexual intercourse, or have sex while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Two trained male health counselors teach participants information, help participants develop risk-reduction skills, and motivate behavior change through group discussion, role-play, and condom use skill training. REMAS is comprised of five 90-minute sessions where participants learn about HIV risky-behaviors, HIV prevention planning, and methods for communicating about safer sex and discussing sex without drugs. Click here to view more detailed information on this program.

Real Talk

Investigators: Charles Klein & Carmela Lomonaco

Real Talk is an online, multimedia sexual health promotion program for Black Gay Men/MSM. In response to the continued need for evidence-based HIV prevention intervention options for Black MSM, the investigators have developed Real Talk. The 2-hour, interactive intervention is loosely based on a popular trilogy of peer-led, Afrocentric, group level HIV prevention interventions originally developed for adult, teenage, and HIV-positive African-American women – SISTA, SiHLE, and WiLLOW. The programs are part of CDC´s Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Intervention (DEBI) library and focus on risk reduction strategies, skills building, social support and community empowerment using a social cognitive theoretical framework within the context of the intersectionalities experienced by Black women. In adapting the SISTA/SiHLE/WiLLOW trilogy for Black MSM, Real Talk positions HIV prevention within a growing gay health movement that defines sexual health as more than safer sex practices or the absence of disease. Real Talk does this through a focus on Black MSM’s resilience in the face of intersecting forms of discrimination and oppression. And because individuals vary in their ability – and indeed, desire – to engage in consistent condom use, Real Talk is structured around a clearly articulated sexual harm reduction framework that recognizes the many HIV prevention strategies that MSM use today, including serosorting, negotiated safety agreements, and, increasingly for HIV-negative men, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis [PREP].

SAHARA: Sistas Accessing HIV/AIDS Resources At a click

Investigators: Ralph DiClemente, Gina Wingood, Deja Hunger, Tamara Kuhn, Tabitha Benner, Julie Solomon, & Josefina J. Card

SAHARA is an interactive, computer-based intervention that is gender relevant and culturally sensitive for African-American women, ages 18-29. Designed for implementation in clinical or community-based settings, the two-session interactive, intervention emphasizes ethnic and gender pride, HIV risk-reduction information, sexual negotiation skills, proper condom use, and development of partner norms supportive of consistent condom use. Social cognitive theory and the theory of gender and power provide the intervention's theoretical foundation. Throughout the two 60-90-minute sessions, the curriculum focuses on how gender roles, commitment to a relationship, and a woman's lack of power in a relationship may affect her ability (and willingness) to implement consistent HIV risk reduction behaviors. Each session offers multimedia learning, games and quizzes to help viewers increase and reinforce their risk-reduction awareness, knowledge, and skills. Women interact with the computer-based intervention individually and at their own speed. Only minimal staff participation is needed to implement SAHARA. A recent efficacy study confirms SAHARA's success; participants were more knowledgeable about HIV/STI knowledge and reported more condom-protected sex behaviors than a control group three-months post-intervention.