HIV-Risk Index: Development and Validation of a Brief Risk Index for Hispanic Young People

The prevalence of HIV risk behaviors among young people facilitates the spread of HIV, in particular regarding unsafe sex behavior, although this trend is different within this population. For this reason, identifying the riskier young population is required to prevent HIV infection. The main purpose of this study was to develop and validate a risk index to assess the different sexual HIV risk exposure among Hispanic Young people. For this purpose, 9861 Spanish young people were randomly distributed into two groups (derivation and validation group). According to the results, the factor analyses grouped the nine items of the HIV- risk index into two factors (factor 1, direct sexual risk indicators and factor 2, indirect sexual risk indicators) with an equal structure for men and women by a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. The variance explained was 54.26 %. Moreover, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient revealed high internal reliability (α = .79) and the convergent validity supported its evidence based on different HIV risk indexes. Therefore, the HIV-risk index seem to be a rigorous and valid measure to estimate HIV risk exposure among young people.The authors acknowledge young people who have participated in our studies during these years, as well as some colleagues who have contributed to them such as Maite Edo, Mª Carmen Guirado, Jose Miguel Bravo, Sandra Gómez and Cristina Cassà. Authors’ Contribution Rafael Ballester-Arnal & María Dolores Gil-Llario contributed to the design of the study, obtaining funding, and study supervision.Rafael Ballester-Arnal, María Dolores Gil-Llario, Jesús Castro-Calvo & Cristina Giménez-García participated in recruiting participants, collecting data, analysis/interpretation of data, and writing of the paper. Funding This study has been associated with different projects funded by Generalitat Valenciana (B2/2001, B3/2002), Fundación para la Investigación y Prevención del Sida en España, FIPSE (Exp. 12436/03; Exp. 36639/07) and Universitat Jaume I/Fundación Bancaja (P1.1 B 2004-18; P1.1 B2006-19)

What Works Well in HIV Prevention Among Spanish Young People? An Analysis of Differential Effectiveness Among Six Intervention Techniques

The AIDS epidemic remains a concern of public health among young people and adolescents. Prevention programs have revealed diverse deficiencies to attain their main goal: preventing risky behaviors. This experimental study evaluates the differential effectiveness of six intervention techniques for preventing HIV/AIDS based on informational-motivational-behavioral Model (talk, website, attitudinal discussion, participation of a seropositive person, fear induction and role play). 239 Spanish young people took part in an experimental design to evaluate six intervention techniques and a non-intervention condition, through changes in their knowledge, attitudes and protective sex behavior. Our findings support a general effectiveness of preventive intervention techniques comparing non-intervention. In particular, the motivational techniques reveal more effectiveness for these Spanish young people. Therefore, it is required identifying a differential impact of the intervention techniques when implementing HIV behavioral interventions.La epidemia del VIH todavía supone un problema de salud pública entre la población joven y adolescente. Los programas de prevención han revelado diversas deficiencias para conseguir su objetivo: prevenir las conductas de riesgo. Este estudio experimental evalúa la eficacia diferencial de seis técnicas de intervención para prevenir el VIH-Sida, basados en el Modelo Información-Motivación-Conducta (charla, web, discusión actitudinal, participación de una persona seropositiva, inducción del miedo y juego de roles). 239 jóvenes españoles participaron en un diseño experimental para evaluar seis técnicas de intervención y una condición de no intervención, mediante cambios en su conocimiento, actitudes y conducta sexual segura. Nuestros hallazgos apoyan la efectividad general de las técnicas de intervención preventivas frente a la no intervención. En particular, las técnicas motivacionales revelan más efectividad para este tipo de jóvenes. Así pues, parece necesario identificar el impacto diferencial de las técnicas de intervención cuando son implementadas.This work was supported by ‘‘Foundation to HIV-AIDS Research and Prevention in Spain’’ (FIPSE) (Ref. 14.436

Effectiveness of a Brief Multi-Component Intervention to HIV Prevention Among Spanish Youth

The greater rate of HIV infection occurs before age 30 in Spain. Our aim was to evaluate the long-term impact of a brief HIV preventive intervention on key sexual risk behavior components in Spanish young population. Participants were 467 young people aged 18–25 years who participated in B-PAPY intervention. They were evaluated at four times: a week, a month, three months and one year after intervention. A self-administered instrument was used. It was found a significant increase from pre-test to follow-ups in HIV knowledge, HIV susceptibility perception, confidence in condom and use of condoms. There were decreases statistically significant in the perceived severity of AIDS. The HIV intervention showed effectiveness over time in the main risk variables for HIV infection. Brief multi-component HIV interventions would be a useful resource to generalize HIV prevention

HIV Prevention Interventions for Young Male Commercial Sex Workers

The sex industry, where men sell sexual services to other men or women, has grown in recent years. These men who offer sexual services are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection due to such factors as: frequency of risky sexual practices, number of sex partners, drug-taking, prevalence of sexually-transmitted infections (STI) and their specific situation of social exclusion which may hinder access to health services. These multi-faceted realities faced by sex workers explain the burgeoning interest in new avenues of scientific research. There are too few preventive programs however aimed at this population group and the studies that evaluate their effectiveness are fewer still. In this article we survey more recent studies on the difficulties of implementing programs for HIV prevention in male sex workers (MSW), as well as the studies that have gauged the impact of preventive programs in this group

Información para la prevención del VIH. Sí, pero ¿de qué modo?

Catorzenes Jornades de Foment de la Investigació de la FCHS (Any 2008-2009

¿Cuáles son los primeros mensajes sobre sexo que enviamos a nuestros hijos?

The family plays a fundamental role in the transmission and learning of gender roles. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore what messages transmitted from parents to their children at early ages of development. Data was collected through 8 of CIACS-1 (Ballester and Gil, 1999) in a sample of 332 parents of children between 4 and 8 years from Valencian Community (Spain). The results indicate that 27,2% held the belief that children should play right things to their sex, 18,1% distributed household by gender and 13,5% believe that masturbation is bad for health. Moreover, less than half of the sample claimed to have spoken with your child about sexual topics. This percentage increases as the children grow older, taking a significant change around 5-6 years. No statistically significant differences were found by gender, so we can consider that the parents in our sample are not differentiated information if boy or girl. In conclusion, it is important to design prevention programs aimed at parents who contribute to the transformation of the stereotypical conceptions.La familia juega un papel fundamental en la transmisión y aprendizaje de los roles de género. Por ello, el objetivo de este trabajo es explorar qué mensajes transmiten los padres a sus hijos en edades tempranas del desarrollo. Se analizan 8 ítems del CIACS-1 (Ballester y Gil, 1999) en una muestrade 332 padres ymadres deniños/as entre 4 y 8 años de la Comunidad Valenciana(España). Los resultados indican que un 27,2% mantiene la creencia de que los niños deben jugara cosas adecuadas a su sexo, un 18,1%reparte las tareas domésticas en función del sexo y un 13,5% cree que masturbarse es malo para la salud. Por otra parte, menos de la mitad de la muestra afirma haber hablado alguna vez con su hijo/a sobre temas sexuales. Este porcentaje aumenta a medida que los hijos/as van creciendo, dando un importante cambio en torno a los 5-6 años. No aparecen diferencias estadísticamente significativas en función del sexo del hijo/a, podemos considerar que los padres/madres de nuestra muestra no dan información diferenciada si es chico o chica. Concluyendo, resulta importante diseñar programas de prevención dirigidos a padres/madres que contribuyan a la transformación de las concepciones estereotipadas

Sexual Behaviors in Male Sex Workers in Spain: Modulating Factors

This study analyzed how the culture of origin, educational level, sexual orientation, and experience of male sex workers may mediate their commercial sexual behaviors. A total of 100 Spanish agency male sex workers were interviewed. Most of them were young men, Latin American, homosexual, and had middle-level education. Our results showed that cultural differences and sexual orientation could influence male sex workers when engaging in sexual behaviors with their clients. Social and health projects with male sex workers may have to take into account sexual myths and taboos related to sexual orientation and cultural differences

Effectiveness of HIV prevention for women: What is working?

The HIV-AIDS remains a public health prob- lem which disproportionally affects women. However, prevention strategies have rarely considered their specific efficacy for them. For this reason, this study examines the differential effectiveness of six intervention elements based on socio-cognitive theories addressing young women. A controlled between-groups design examined the change in risk profile among 167 young Spanish women (mean age 21.3 years old) involved in five sexual risk prevention interventions (informative talk, attitudinal discussion, role- play, fear induction and informative website) and one control non-intervening group (waiting list). Our findings support the differential efficacy of some HIV preventive intervention elements comparing others for women. In particular, the attitudinal discussion stands out followed by the informative talk and the role play. Contrarily, the fear induction component did not reveal relevant improvements. This study provides new evidence related to HIV prevention. Particularly, the higher efficacy of moti- vational components for these young Spanish women is revealed.El VIH-Sida supone un problema de salud que afecta, desproporcionadamente, a las mujeres. Sin embargo, los programas preventivos raramente han considerado el impacto especı́fico que, sobre ellas, ha tenido. Por este motivo, este estudio examinar la eficacia diferencial de seis elementos (charla informativa, discussion actitudinal, juego de roles, inducción al miedo y web informativa) de intervención dirigidos a mujeres basados en teorías sociocognitivas. Mediante un estudio controlado de comparación entre grupos se examinó el cambio en el perfil de riesgo de 167 mujeres jóvenes españolas (promedio de edad: 21,3 años) que participaron en cinco intervenciones dirigidas a prevenir conductas sexuales de riesgo (charla informativa, discusión, actitudinal, juego de roles, exposición al miedo y una web) además de un grupo control sin intervención (en lista de espera). Nuestros hallazgos apoyan la eficacia diferencial de unos elementos de intervención para prevenir el VIH en comparación con otros en el caso de las mujeres. En particular, destaca la discusión actitudinal (basada en componentes motivacionales) seguida de la charla informativa (que incluía conocimientos básicos) y el juego de roles (basado en el componente de habilidades). Por el contrario, la exposición al miedo no reveló mejoras importantes. Este estudio aporta nuevas evidencias relacionadas con la prevención del VIH. En concreto, con la mayor eficacia de los componentes motivacionales para esta muestra de mujeres jóvenes española

Relationship Status as an Influence on Cybersex Activity: Cybersex, Youth, and Steady Partner

The authors focus on the influence of participants’ having or not having a steady partner when reference to cybersex use. Participants were 1,239 young, Spanish individuals who completed the Internet Sex Screening Test. Results showed the influence of being in a relationship on certain consumption dimensions of cybersex; the influence was found to be greater in men than in women. In general, cybersex activity was higher for single participants, although it was also significant for participants with a steady partner. The authors’ findings facilitate the comprehension of the effect of new technologies in intimate human relationships

Influence of beliefs about romantic love on the justification of abusive behaviors among early adolescents

Introduction Romantic experiences during adolescence have an important influence on functioning later in life. Romantic love has been associated with the acceptance of abusive behaviors. This study examined the relationship between myths of romantic love and the perceived severity of different types of abusive behaviors, as well as the influence of gender. Methods The sample comprised 448 Spanish adolescents (M = 12.92 years old; SD = 0.85), of which 50.3% were male and 49.7% were female. Participants were evaluated in the school setting. The Perception of Abuse Scale and the Myths, Fallacies, and Misconceptions about Romantic Love Scale were administered. Results Statistically significant negative associations between the myths of romantic love and the perceived severity of abusive behaviors were found. Myths regarding possession, dedication, and exclusivity were associated with a lower perceived severity of abusive behaviors in adolescent males. Myths regarding the omnipotence of love were associated with a lower perceived severity of abusive behaviors in adolescent females. Believing in jealousy as a demonstration of love (myth of jealousy) and in the need to establish a steady union when you love someone (marriage myth) explained a lower perceived severity of abusive behaviors in regression models. However, being female and having these beliefs explained a higher perceived severity of abusive behaviors. Conclusions The myths of romantic love are already present during early adolescence. These beliefs are implicated in the construction of gender inequality and difficulties in the identification of dating abuse behavior severity. A gendered perspective is necessary to understand this issue. Early intervention strategies should address the cognitive and emotional components of intimate relationships.Funding for open access charge: CRUE-Universitat Jaume