Laura R. Glasman

Forming Attitudes That Predict Future Behavior: A Meta-Analysis of the Attitude-Behavior Relation

A meta-analysis (k of conditions = 128; N = 4,598) examined the influence of factors present at the time an attitude is formed on the degree to which this attitude guides future behavior. The findings indicated that attitudes correlated with a future behavior more strongly when they were easy to recall (accessible) and stable over time. Because of increased accessibility, attitudes more strongly predicted future behavior when participants had direct experience with the attitude object and reported their attitudes frequently. Because of the resulting attitude stability, the attitude-behavior association was strongest when attitudes were confident, when participants formed their attitude on the basis of behavior-relevant information, and when they received or were induced to think about one- rather than two-sided information about the attitude object.

A Test of Major Assumptions About Behavior Change: A Comprehensive Look at the Effects of Passive and Active HIV-Prevention Interventions Since the Beginning of the Epidemic.

This meta-analysis tested the major theoretical assumptions about behavior change by examining the outcomes and mediating mechanisms of different preventive strategies in a sample of 354 HIV-prevention interventions and 99 control groups, spanning the past 17 years. There were 2 main conclusions from this extensive review. First, the most effective interventions were those that contained attitudinal arguments, educational information, behavioral skills arguments, and behavioral skills training, whereas the least effective ones were those that attempted to induce fear of HIV. Second, the impact of the interventions and the different strategies behind them was contingent on the gender, age, ethnicity, risk group, and past condom use of the target audience in ways that illuminate the direction of future preventive efforts.

A dynamic social systems model for considering structural factors in HIV prevention and detection

We present a model for HIV-related behaviors that emphasizes the dynamic and social nature of the structural factors that influence HIV prevention and detection. Key structural dimensions of the model include resources, science and technology, formal social control, informal social influences and control, social interconnectedness, and settings. These six dimensions can be conceptualized on macro, meso, and micro levels. Given the inherent complexity of structural factors and their interrelatedness, HIV prevention interventions may focus on different levels and dimensions. We employ a systems perspective to describe the interconnected and dynamic processes of change among social systems and their components. The topics of HIV testing and safer injection facilities (SIFs) are analyzed using this structural framework. Finally, we discuss methodological issues in the development and evaluation of structural interventions for HIV prevention and detection.

Levels and Predictors of Sexual HIV Risk in Social Networks of Men who Have Sex with Men in the Midwest

Past studies have primarily focused on individual-level factors influencing the HIV risk practices of gay or bisexual men. The role of ones social network has been less explored. This study identified 75 indexes in venues frequented by men who have sex with men and then recruited all willing persons named as members of each indexs egocentric social network. Two hundred fifty-five unique network members completed assessments of risk-related characteristics and also sociometric measures that were used to identify the influence leader of each network. White and African American networks were composed primarily of men of the same race. Over 70% of men reported recent casual sexual partners. About one fourth of men engaged in unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) with a casual partner or with multiple partners in the past 3 months. The social network to which a man belonged, weaker risk reduction intentions, and greater substance use independently predicted a range of high-risk sexual behaviors. There were modest but significant correlations between the risk-related characteristics of network members and network leaders. Social network-level approaches are feasible for reaching hidden subgroups of MSM at high risk for contracting HIV.

HIV/AIDS misconceptions may be associated with condom use among black South Africans: An exploratory analysis

In South Africa, approximately 20% of 15–49-year-olds are infected with HIV. Among black South Africans, high levels of HIV/AIDS misconceptions (e.g. HIV is manufactured by whites to reduce the black African population; AIDS is caused by supernatural forces or witchcraft) may be barriers to HIV prevention. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 150 young black adults (aged 18–26; 56% males) visiting a public clinic for sexually transmitted infections, to investigate whether HIV/AIDS misconceptions were related to low condom use in main partner relationships. We assessed agreement with HIV/AIDS misconceptions relating to the supernatural (e.g. witchcraft as a cause of HIV) and to genocide (e.g. the withholding of a cure). In multivariate models, agreement that ‘Witchcraft plays a role in HIV transmission’ was significantly related to less positive attitudes about condoms, less belief in condom effectiveness for HIV prevention, and lower intentions to use condoms among men. The belief that ‘Vitamins and fresh fruits and vegetables can cure AIDS’ was associated with lower intentions among men to use condoms. Women who endorsed the belief linking HIV to witchcraft had a higher likelihood of unprotected sex with a main partner, whereas women who endorsed the belief that a cure for AIDS was being withheld had a lower likelihood of having had unprotected sex. Knowledge about distinct types of HIV/AIDS misconceptions and their correlates can help in the design of culturally appropriate HIV-prevention messages that address such beliefs.

Models of health-related behavior: a study of condom use in two cities of Argentina.

This study aimed at determining the relative importance of motivational and control factors in the prediction of condom use in a high-risk heterosexual sample from two cities of Argentina. Participants reported their attitudes, norms, control perceptions, intentions, and condom use with regard to main and occasional partners. Control perceptions was the main predictor for intentions to use condoms and actual condom use with both partners. Furthermore, the norm of the partner predicted condom use with the main partner, whereas the norm of family and friends predicted condom use with occasional partners. There were no differences in condom-use determinants across men and women. Interventions for this population should train at-risk heterosexuals to manage the personal and interpersonal difficulties of condom use and warn audiences of implicit theories that associate love and commitment with perceptions that condom use with main partners is unnecessary.

The relationship between community structural characteristics, the context of crack use, and HIV risk behaviors in San Salvador, El Salvador.

This paper explores community structural factors in different low-income communities in the San Salvador, El Salvador, that account for differences in the social context in which crack is used and HIV risk behaviors among crack users. Results suggest that both more distal (type of low-income community, level of violent crime, and poverty) and proximate structural factors (type of site where drugs are used, and whether drugs are used within or outside of community of residence) influence HIV risk behaviors among drug users. Additionally, our results suggest that community structural factors influence the historical and geographic variation in drug use sites

Modeling structural, dyadic, and individual factors: The inclusion and exclusion model of HIV related behavior

Changing HIV-related behaviors requires addressing the individual, dyadic, and structural influences that shape them. This supplement of AIDS & Behavior presents frameworks that integrate these three influences on behavior. Concepts from these frameworks were selected to model the processes by which structural factors affect individual HIV-related behavior. In the Inclusion/Exclusion Model, material and symbolic inclusions and exclusions (sharing versus denying resources) regulate individuals’ ability and motivation to detect, prevent, and treat HIV. Structural interventions create inclusions that increase one’s ability or motivation to perform these behaviors or exclusions that hinder one’s ability or motivation to execute counterproductive behaviors. The need to expand research regarding multilevel influences on HIV-related behavior is also discussed, particularly concerning further understanding of sustained behavior change and effective dissemination of evidence-based intervention strategies.

Survival and Change in Judgments: A Model of Activation and Comparison

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses a model of judgment maintenance and change, known as “activation/comparison model” that specifies the various processes that take place at the time of making a judgment on the basis of memory-based and online information. This model proposes that attitude maintenance and change depend on three processes: recalling a prior attitude, recalling or receiving other attitude-related information, and comparing the prior attitude with attitude-related information. The activation/comparison model assumes that all three processes can elicit attitude change and maintenance under different conditions. The chapter describes the nature and predicted effects of attitude activation and information comparison on attitude change and maintenance. When prior attitude accessibility elicits attitude maintenance in the absence of comparative processes, prior attitude accessibility accelerates comparison and changes when comparative cues are present. Comparative principles are identified and the implications of this model are discussed in relation to prior theorizing on change in attitudes and non-evaluative judgments.

Disparities in Access to HIV Prevention Among Men of Mexican Descent Living in the Midwestern United States

Men of Mexican descent (MMD) in the U.S. are disproportionately affected by HIV. Understanding MMD’s access to HIV prevention is necessary to reduce their transmission rates. We explored disparities in access to HIV prevention among MMD of different assimilation status, healthcare access, and sexual risk behavior. 322 Midwestern MMD completed a survey assessing their access to passive interventions (e.g., lectures), interactive interventions (e.g., counseling), HIV testing, media information, and information from the Internet. 64% MMD had received passive interventions, 36% interactive interventions, 42% HIV testing, 41% information from media, and 12% from the Internet. MMD who were less assimilated to the U.S., had lower healthcare access, and were at risk for HIV, were less likely to have accessed prevention interventions but more likely to have received media information. Access to HIV prevention among Midwestern MMD is tied to their assimilation and healthcare access. Findings have implications for developing strategies of intervention delivery.