Marta R. Durantini

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.

Conceptualizing the Influence of Social Agents of Behavior Change: A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of HIV-Prevention Interventionists for Different Groups.

A meta-analysis of 166 HIV-prevention interventions tested theoretical predictions about the effects of experts, lay community members, and similar and dissimilar others, as agents of change. In general, expert interventionists produced greater behavior change than lay community members, and the demographic and behavioral similarity between the interventionist and the recipients facilitated behavioral change. Equally importantly, there were differences across groups in the efficacy of various sources, especially among populations of low status and/or power. These findings support the hypothesis that unempowered populations are more sensitive to characteristics of the interventionists who can facilitate access to various resources. In addition, they suggest the need to ensure the availability of health professionals from diverse demographic and behavioral backgrounds.

Empirical and Theoretical Conclusions of an Analysis of Outcomes of HIV-Prevention Interventions

Over two decades of HIV-prevention attempts have generated a most impressive ecological data set for the test of behavioral-change and persuasion theories in the domain of condom use. An analysis of this evidence has yielded five important empirical and theoretical conclusions. First, interventions are more successful at achieving immediate knowledge and motivational change than they are at achieving immediate behavioral change. Second, the immediate motivational change decays over time, whereas behavior change increases over the same period. Third, interventions that engage audiences in particular activities, such as role-playing condom use, are more effective than presentations of materials to passive audiences. Fourth, interventions consistent with the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior, with self-efficacy models, and with information-motivation and behavioral-skills models prove effective, whereas interventions designed to induce fear do not. Fifth, expert intervention facilitators are more effective than lay community members in almost all cases. When populations are unempowered, expert facilitators are particularly effective, and they are most effective if they also share the gender and ethnicity of the target audience.

When it comes to lifestyle recommendations, more is sometimes less: A meta-analysis of theoretical assumptions underlying the effectiveness of interventions promoting multiple behavior domain change

A meta-analysis of 150 research reports summarizing the results of multiple behavior domain interventions examined theoretical predictions about the effects of the included number of recommendations on behavioral and clinical change in the domains of smoking, diet, and physical activity. The meta-analysis yielded 3 main conclusions. First, there is a curvilinear relation between the number of behavioral recommendations and improvements in behavioral and clinical measures, with a moderate number of recommendations producing the highest level of change. A moderate number of recommendations is likely to be associated with stronger effects because the intervention ensures the necessary level of motivation to implement the recommended changes, thereby increasing compliance with the goals set by the intervention, without making the intervention excessively demanding. Second, this curve was more pronounced when samples were likely to have low motivation to change, such as when interventions were delivered to nonpatient (vs. patient) populations, were implemented in nonclinic (vs. clinic) settings, used lay community (vs. expert) facilitators, and involved group (vs. individual) delivery formats. Finally, change in behavioral outcomes mediated the effects of number of recommended behaviors on clinical change. These findings provide important insights that can help guide the design of effective multiple behavior domain interventions.

From Brochures to Videos to Counseling: Exposure to HIV-Prevention Programs

This research tested the prediction that reading a preventive brochure leads people to watch a preventive video, and that watching this video in turn leads to an increase in the likelihood of participating in a preventive counseling session. A sample of men and women from a southeastern community in the United States was recruited for a general health survey with the objective of examining participation in HIV-prevention interventions. Unobtrusive measures of exposure to HIV-prevention brochures, an HIV-prevention video, and an HIV-prevention counseling session were obtained. Findings indicated that reading the brochures increased watching the video and that watching the video increased participation in the counseling session. The association between exposure to the video and exposure to the counseling was mediated by expectations that the counseling would be useful. Findings are discussed in terms of the need to ensure exposure to interventions to achieve intervention effectiveness.

Participation in Counseling Programs: High-Risk Participants are Reluctant to Accept HIV-Prevention Counseling.

HIV-prevention intervention effectiveness depends on understanding whether clients with highest need for HIV-prevention counseling accept it. With this objective, a field study with a high-risk community sample from the southeastern United States (N = 350) investigated whether initial knowledge about HIV, motivation to use condoms, condom-use-relevant behavioral skills, and prior condom use correlate with subsequent acceptance of an HIV-prevention counseling session. Ironically, participants with high (vs. low) motivation to use condoms, high (vs. low) condom-use-relevant behavioral skills, and high (vs. low) prior condom use were more likely to accept the HIV-prevention counseling. Moreover, the influence of motivation to use condoms, condom-use-relevant behavioral skills, and prior condom use on acceptance of the counseling was mediated by expectations that the counseling session would be useful. Methods to reduce barriers to recruitment of clients for counseling programs are discussed.

Material and social incentives to participation in behavioral interventions: A meta-analysis of gender disparities in enrollment and retention in experimental human immunodeficiency virus prevention interventions.

OBJECTIVE A meta-analysis was conducted to test theoretical hypotheses about the predictors of enrollment and completion of condom-use-promotion interventions among men and women. DESIGN A meta-analysis summarized research reports of the efficacy of experimental interventions on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The outcome measure consisted of (a) a measure of participation, obtained by subtracting the actual number of participants from the number of the invited people, and (b) a measure of retention was obtained by subtracting the number of participants who completed the intervention from the number of commencers. RESULTS Experimental interventions providing instrumental and financial resources (e.g., payments) increased initiation and retention more among predominantly male samples, whereas experimental interventions using group formats increased initiation and retention more among predominantly female samples. These patterns remained while controlling for past condom use, other HIV-risk behaviors, and demographics associated with gender composition. CONCLUSION People seek out HIV-prevention interventions to fulfill gender-specific needs, and these differences must be taken into account in the design of HIV-prevention interventions.

Reducing cultural and psychological barriers to Latino enrollment in HIV-prevention counseling: Initial data on an enrollment meta-intervention

Aspects of Latino culture (e.g., machismo, marianism) can act as barriers to enrollment in HIV-prevention programs. To lift these barriers, a culturally appropriate meta-intervention was designed to increase intentions to enroll in HIV-prevention counseling by Latinos. Latino participants (N=41) were recruited from the community and randomly assigned to either an experimental or control meta-intervention condition that varied the introduction to a HIV-prevention counseling program. Following the meta-intervention, participants were issued an invitation to take part in HIV-prevention counseling. The outcome measure was the intention to enroll in a HIV-prevention counseling session. Findings indicated that enrollment intentions were higher in the experimental meta-intervention condition (96%) than in the control meta-intervention condition (53%). In addition, the effects of the meta-intervention were comparable across genders and participant ages. Findings suggest that the use of a culturally appropriate meta-intervention may be an effective strategy for increasing Latino enrollment in HIV-prevention programs. These promising findings warrant further investigation into the efficacy and effectiveness of this meta-intervention.

Are we going to close social gaps in HIV? Likely effects of behavioral HIV-prevention interventions on health disparities

Although experimental behavioral interventions to prevent HIV are generally designed to correct undesirable epidemiological trends, it is presently unknown whether the resulting body of behavioral interventions is adequate to correct the social disparities in HIV-prevalence and incidence present in the United States. Two large, diverse-population meta-analytic databases were reanalyzed to estimate potential perpetuation and change in demographic and behavioral gaps as a result of introducing the available behavioral interventions advocating condom use. This review suggested that, if uniformly applied across populations, the analyzed set of experimental (i.e. under testing) interventions is well poised to correct the higher prevalence and incidence among males (vs. females) and African-Americans and Latinos (vs. other groups), but ill poised to correct the higher prevalence and incidence among younger (vs. older) people, as well as men who have sex with men, injection-drug users, and multiple partner heterosexuals (vs. other behavioral groups). Importantly, when the characteristics of the interventions most efficacious for each population were included in the analyses of behavior change, results replicated with three exceptions. Specifically, after accounting for interactions of intervention and facilitator features with characteristics of the recipient population (e.g. gender), there was no behavior change bias for men who have sex with men, younger individuals changed their behavior more than older individuals, and African-Americans changed their behavior less than other groups.

Men and women have specific needs that facilitate enrollment in HIV-prevention counseling

Abstract Although reducing HIV risk is a primary motive for the design of HIV prevention interventions, the goals of the clients may be very different. Social theories of gender suggest that women, who often seek to resolve social and relational problems, may see HIV-prevention counseling as a mean of resolving partner violence. In contrast, men, who often worry about their physical strength, may seek to enroll in HIV-prevention programs when they experience physical symptoms unrelated to HIV. An unobtrusive study was conducted to observe enrollment in HIV risk-reduction counseling after measuring partner-violence complaints (e.g., feeling threatened or being hit), emotional complaints (e.g., fatigue or anxiety), and physical complaints (e.g., cardiovascular or digestive symptoms). The sample was a group of 350 participants, 70% clients from a state-health department in North Central Florida and 30% community members. Consistent with predictions, complaints of partner violence had a positive association with enrollment in women but not in men, whereas complaints about physical health had a positive association with enrollment in men, but not in women. Emotional complaints did not predict enrollment in either gender group. This study suggests that broad, gender-specific population needs must be competently addressed within HIV-prevention programs and may be strategically used to increase program enrollment.