Voluntary Counseling and Testing for Female Sex Workers (VCT Program)

Investigators: Xiaoming Li, PhD, Bo Wang, PhD, Xiaoyi Fang, PhD, Ran Zhao, MD, Bonita Stanton,MD, Yan Hong, MA, Baiqing Dong, MD, Wei Liu, MD, Yuejiao Zhou, MD, Shaoling Liang, MD, & Hongmei Yang, PhD

The VCT Program aims to increase STI/HIV testing, awareness of infection, STI/HIV knowledge, and consistent use of condoms among female sex workers in China in order to ultimately reduce rates of STI infections. The VCT Program demonstrated increases in knowledge of STI/HIV knowledge and consistent condom use, and decreases in STI incidence. The VCT Program is composed of a pre-test counseling session, STI/HIV testing, and a post-test counseling session. During the first 25-minute VCT counseling session, the counselor works with the participant to: complete a risk assessment; identify challenges related to risk reduction; create a risk reduction plan; and practice condom use skills. After the first counseling session, the participant completes STI/HIV testing. During the 20-minute post-test counseling session, the counselor shares test results and reviews treatment options and risk reduction plans. The VCT Program was originally implemented in a suburban area of Nanning in southern China with female sex workers recruited from entertainment establishments. This program's voluntary counseling and testing content and approach may be useful in increasing testing and safer sex behaviors in many different types of communities and populations. Click here to view more detailed information on this program.

WILLOW: HIV Transmission Reduction Among Women Living with HIV

Investigators: Wingood, GM, DiClemente, RJ, MikHail, I, Lang, DL, Hubbard McCree, D, Davies, SL, Hardin, JW, Hook, EW & Saag, M

Traditional methods of preventing the transmission of STIs and HIV/AIDS focus on decreasing risk behaviors while increasing condom usage among individuals who are HIV negative. Included in those methods are individual counseling and group interventions. Few risk reduction interventions are developed specifically for women who have tested positive for HIV, despite data that indicate that a growing number of women acquired their infections through heterosexual contact. WILLOW was designed as a group intervention for African American women. The intervention incorporates elements of sexual risk reduction and social networking to reduce STI/HIV sexual transmission and to enhance psychosocial mediators and structural factors associated with preventive behaviors over a one-year period. The evaluation of WILLOW was a randomized controlled study including 366 women who were assigned to either the intervention (n=190) or comparison (n=176) conditions. Criteria for eligibility included: HIV+ serostatus; aged 18-50; and sexually active during the past six months. Following a baseline assessment, women were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. Follow-up assessments were conducted at six and twelve months post intervention. Over the 12-month follow-up period, women in the intervention group, as compared to their comparison group counterparts, reported fewer incidents of unprotected vaginal intercourse (1.8 vs. 2.5; P=0.022); were less likely to report never using condoms (OR=0.27; P=0.008); had a lower rate of bacterial infections (OR=0.19, P=0.006); reported greater HIV knowledge and condom use self-efficacy, more network members, fewer beliefs that condoms interfere with sex, and fewer partner-related barriers to condom use; and demonstrated greater skill in using condoms. Click here to view more detailed information on this program.

Washington State Study of Victimization and Other Risk Factors for Child Maltreatment among School Age Parents, 1989-1992

Investigators: Debra Boyer

This three-year, Washington statewide field study of pregnant and parenting teenagers, conducted between 1989 and 1992, assessed the role of sexual victimization in adolescent sexual behavior, pregnancy, and subsequent parenting. The purpose of the study was to examine the prevalence, etiology and prevention of child maltreatment by adolescent parents. The guiding hypothesis focused research on physical and sexual victimization as antecedent factors in both adolescent pregnancy and child maltreatment among adolescent parents. The central questions of this investigation were: (1) What is the relationship between early sexual victimization and child abuse to adolescent pregnancy and (2) what is the relationship between early sexual victimization and child abuse to maltreatment of the children of adolescent parents. Data were collected in three phases, at approximately one year intervals. The phases included: (1) baseline surveys conducted in 1989, (2) follow-up surveys conducted approximately one year later, and (3) a review of Child Protective Services case record reviews. In addition, focus group interviews were conducted throughout the research period. DAAPPP Data Set N3 includes data from the baseline and the follow-up surveys. It includes 916 variables and 540 cases.

Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three City Study (Boston, Chicagand San Antonio), Wave 3, February 2005 - January 2006

Investigators: Andrew J. Cherlin, Ronald Angel, Linda Burton, P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, Robert Moffitt, and William Julius Wilson

The Welfare, Children and Families Study is a longitudinal study of children and their caregivers in low income families that were living in low-income neighborhoods in three cities during wave 1 of the study (1999). The purpose of the study is to investigate the consequences of policy changes resulting from the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA). The survey was designed to provide information on the health and cognitive, behavioral, and emotional development of children and on their primary caregivers' labor force behavior, welfare experiences, family lives, use of social service, health, and well-being.

Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three City Study (Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio) Embedded Developmental Study, Wave 1, 1999

Investigators: Andrew J. Cherlin, Ronald Angel, Linda Burton, P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, Robert Moffitt, and William Julius Wilson

Welfare, Children and Families: A Three City Study is a longitudinal study of children and their caregivers in low-income families that were living in low-income neighborhoods in three cities in 1999. The purpose of the study is to investigate the consequences of policy changes resulting from the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA). The survey was designed to provide information on the health and cognitive, behavioral, and emotional development of children and on their primary caregivers' labor force behavior, welfare experiences, family lives, use of social service, health, and well-being. The Embedded Developmental Study (EDS) was developed to gain a more detailed and valid picture of the environments and processes that affect children during early childhood that cannot be obtained through standard survey instruments. The EDS was focused on preschoolers because children in this age range embark upon developmental paths that, in turn, drive later intellectual, social and physical growth. Mothers also face challenges during this period in providing appropriate warmth, limit setting, and learning opportunities, as well as in meeting the great time demands of caring for preschool children and finding appropriate alternate care. The survey gathered detailed, process-oriented measures that provide information not easily collected in standard surveys. The EDS contains three components: (1) an additional home visit with mother and child, which includes videotaped tasks for the child and the mother-child together, as well as an additional mother interview; (2) a visit to the child's primary care provider (other than the mother), which includes observational ratings of the care and an interview with the childcare provider; and (3) an interview with the child's biological father. The EDS was undertaken with nearly all children ages two to four in the survey. It mirrored the main survey in its timeline; with all portions of the EDS completed while the main survey was conducted in the field.

Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three City Study (Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio) Embedded Developmental Study, Wave 2, 2000-01

Investigators: Andrew J. Cherlin, Ronald Angel, Linda Burton, P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, Robert Moffitt, and William Julius Wilson

Welfare, Children and Families: A Three-City Study is an ongoing research project in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio to monitor the consequences of welfare reform for the well-being of children and families. The Wave 2 Embedded Developmental Study (EDS), which is a part of the longitudinal follow-up, includes interviews of a subset of children 3-6 years of age and their caregivers. It consists of videotaped assessments of children's behaviors, caregiver-child interactions, and observations of childcare settings. The interviews were conducted between October 2000 and June 2001 in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio. The purpose of the study is to investigate the consequences of policy changes resulting from the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA). The survey was designed to provide information on the health and cognitive, behavioral, and emotional development of children and on their mothers' labor force behavior, welfare experiences, family lives, use of social service, health, and well-being. The Embedded Developmental Study (EDS) was developed to gain a more detailed and in-depth picture of the environments and processes that affect children during early childhood than can be obtained through standard survey instruments. Detailed, process-oriented measures that provide information not easily collected in standard surveys were gathered. Wave 1 of the EDS contained three components: (1) an additional home visit with mother and child, which included videotaped tasks for the child and the mother-child together, as well as an additional mother interview; (2) a visit to the child's primary care provider (other than the mother), which included observational ratings of the care and an interview with the childcare provider; and (3) an interview with the child's biological father. In wave 2, however, only the mother and childcare provider interviews and observations were conducted. In addition, the "mother" interviews were conducted with the focal child's primary caregiver; separated caregivers from the main survey were not included in the Wave 2 EDS sample.

Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three City Study (Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio), Wave 2, September 2000 - June 2001

Investigators: Andrew J. Cherlin, Ronald Angel, Linda Burton, P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, Robert Moffitt, and William Julius Wilson

The Welfare, Children and Families Study is a longitudinal study of children and their caregivers in low income families that were living in low-income neighborhoods in three cities during wave 1 of the study (1999). The purpose of the study is to investigate the consequences of policy changes resulting from the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA). The survey was designed to provide information on the health and cognitive, behavioral, and emotional development of children and on their primary caregivers' labor force behavior, welfare experiences, family lives, use of social service, health, and well-being.

Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study, Wave 1

Investigators: Andrew J. Cherlin, Ronald Angel, Linda Burton, P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, Robert Moffitt, and William Julius Wilson

The Welfare, Children and Families Study is a longitudinal study of children and their caregivers in low- income families that were living in low-income neighborhoods in three cities in 1999. The purpose of the study is to investigate the consequences of policy changes resulting from the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA)1. The survey was designed to provide information on the health and cognitive, behavioral, and emotional development of children and on their primary caregivers' labor force behavior, welfare experiences, family lives, use of social service, health, and well-being.

Wise Guys: A Male-Oriented Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program

Investigators: Children's Home Society of NC

The Wise Guys program is designed to prevent adolescent pregnancy by teaching adolescent males self-responsibility in the areas of sexual development, decision-making, and relationships. The Wise Guys program is a weekly, 10-session group intervention for adolescent males that is delivered by a staff educator. Each session is approximately 45 to 60 minutes long. The program may be offered in a variety of settings including, but not limited to, school athletic programs, faith-based institutions, juvenile detention center, and other community sites. The program is available only as a shipped hard copy package. The Wise Guys program covers a broad range of topics including: masculinity, communication, relationships, dating violence, fatherhood, values, goal setting, decision making, sexuality, sexually transmitted infections, contraception, and abstinence. Participatory lessons and activities focus on assisting youth to identify their long-range personal and career goals so that they can use those goals to direct the decisions they make throughout adolescence. Wise Guys has been demonstrated to effectively improve adolescent males' knowledge of sexual behavior and reproductive behavior, and their knowledge of STI transmission, and to instill desirable attitudes toward sex and appropriate behavior in sexual relationships. The Wise Guys evaluation found: - Participants had significantly higher scores than controls at both posttest and follow-up (p = .007) on general knowledge of sexual behavior and reproductive biology. - Participants had significantly higher scores than controls at both posttest and follow-up (p = .000) on knowledge of STI transmission. - Scores for participants were higher than those of controls at all 3 data points, but were significantly higher at posttest and follow-up (p = .013) on attitudes toward sex and appropriate behavior in sexual relationships. - Regression analyses confirmed that participation in Wise Guys was significantly associated with higher posttest and follow-up general knowledge, STI knowledge, and desirable attitude scores, independent of age, grade, race, or pretest scores. - To assess the relative importance of participation in the Wise Guys program for predicting every time contraception at 6-month follow-up, regression analyses were done using age, grade, race, and participation in Wise Guys as the independent variables. The strongest and only statistically significant predictor of contraception use "every time" was participation in the Wise Guys curriculum. Click here to view more detailed information on this program.

Youth AIDS Prevention Project (YAPP)

Investigators: Susan Levy, Brian Flay, & Arden Handler

Originally designed for African-American youth, YAPP aims to prevent STDs, HIV/AIDS, and substance abuse among high-risk junior high school students. Guiding the program is the social influence model of behavioral change, which targets teens' knowledge, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors regarding high-risk activities. The intervention includes ten sessions for 7th grade students, delivered in regularly scheduled health or science classes, and a five-part booster session offered one year later, when the teens have entered 8th grade. Classes cover transmission and prevention of STDs and HIV/AIDS, the importance of using condoms for those who choose to have sex, and the development of decision-making and resistance/negotiation skills. In addition to lectures and class discussions, active learning is emphasized, with opportunities for students to participate in small group exercises and role plays. There are also homework activities and opportunities for parental involvement. A field study of the intervention was conducted in fifteen high-risk school districts in Chicago. Research focused on the group of students who first became sexually active during the study period. Following the booster session, these students were more likely than a control group of peers to report using condoms with foam; they also expressed greater intention to use condoms with foam in the future. Click here to view more detailed information on this program.