HIV risk sensitization following a detailed sexual behavior interview : A preliminary investigation

We administered a detailed structured interview of sexual HIV risk behavior to 110 college students (46% women; mean age = 19.7 years; range = 18-41 years) and assessed their perceived risk of HIV infection before and after the interview. The sexual behavior assessment consisted of 29 single-item fr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of behavioral medicine 2000-08, Vol.23 (4), p.393-398
Main Authors: WEINHARDT, L. S, CAREY, K. B, CAREY, M. P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome
Adolescent
Adult
AIDS
Alcohol
Biological and medical sciences
College students
Female
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
HIV
HIV Infections - prevention & control
HIV Infections - psychology
Human immunodeficiency virus
Humans
Infections
Interview, Psychological
Male
Medical sciences
Motivation
Perceptions
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Questionnaires
Risk-Taking
Self help
Sexual Behavior
Students - psychology
Techniques and methods
Vagina
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We administered a detailed structured interview of sexual HIV risk behavior to 110 college students (46% women; mean age = 19.7 years; range = 18-41 years) and assessed their perceived risk of HIV infection before and after the interview. The sexual behavior assessment consisted of 29 single-item frequency questions, followed by a 90-day Timeline Followback interview. Results indicate that sexually active participants experienced HIV risk sensitization during the interview, whereas participants who were not sexually active did not. Among the sexually active participants, those who had multiple sexual partners were more sensitized to their risk than participants with only one partner, and those who engaged in vaginal sex evidenced increased risk perception, but participants who had only oral sex did not. These findings indicate that detailed sexual behavior assessments influence participants' motivation to reduce their risk behavior. This may be helpful in increasing the effectiveness of brief risk behavior interventions such as HIV counseling and testing. These findings may also have implications for the generalizability of HIV prevention interventions to contexts that do not include such detailed assessments.
ISSN:0160-7715
1573-3521
DOI:10.1023/A:1005505018784