This article provides information on harm reduction, a recent development in substance abuse services in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The author outlines abstinence and harm reduction perspectives and the stages of change model and discusses how these perspectives can be integrated in social work practice. He proposes using harm reduction…

Although HIV prevention research has accomplished much over the last 2 decades, significant challenges remain. The accomplishments have included rapid progression through various stages of research--from descriptive to clinical trials--and the fielding of several Phase 3 trials with biological endpoints. The challenges include developing…

Children living with HIV often display delayed motor performance owing to HIV infection of the central nervous system, the effects of opportunistic infections and, indirectly, owing to their social environments. Although these problems have been well documented, the impact of the virus on the development of South African children is less well…

This article presents preliminary findings of a randomized HIV prevention study in Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. The study centers on a family HIV workshop aimed at strengthening parenting skills that are empirically linked to reducing adolescent HIV exposure and other sexual risks. These skills include parental monitoring; educating youth…

This study explored perceptions, needs, and barriers of sub-Saharan African migrants in relation to HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT). Using an inductive qualitative methodological approach, data were obtained from focus group discussions. Results showed that participants were in principle in favor of VCT. However, they indicated that…

Studies at the individual level have shown a negative effect of education and intelligence on risky behavior. The same has been demonstrated for risky sexual behavior and for HIV-infection rates in sub-Saharan Africa. In path analyses at the country data level, cognitive abilities (seen as depending on education) show a strong negative effect on…

Using the 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance data (n = 13,917) of high school students, we examined the association between four domains of risk factors (alcohol/drug use, aggression, HIV risk-related behaviors, and health problems) and indicators of suicidality (considering a suicide attempt, making a plan to attempt suicide, and actually…

In this study, two longitudinal models of early adolescent risky sexual behaviors (RSB) were compared using a pooled sample of 267 Canadian and Italian adolescents (55% females; 53% Canadians) assessed yearly from grade 8 to 10. We focused on parenting practices (monitoring, control, limit setting), adolescent problem behaviors (antisocial…

This paper examines young South African school children's understanding of HIV/AIDS. Based on ethnographic work in two schools in Greater Durban, it explores the impact of HIV/AIDS on the ways in which gender and sexuality are articulated against the backdrop of race and class specific contexts. The first part of the paper examines the children's…

Objective: Much research has been done to examine the long-term effects of being victimized by sexual, physical, and/or emotional abuse in childhood, but much less research has focused on the impact of childhood neglect experiences. This study examines the role that childhood neglect has on adult women's involvement in HIV-related risky behaviors.…

Teens in the United States have high rates of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and recent data indicate that U.S. teens are engaging in riskier sexual behaviors. Male adolescents can help to lower these rates and risks by using condoms consistently with their sexual partners. Child Trends drew on national survey…

School nurses are at the forefront of health care providers for many families of junior high and high school students and are used as primary sources of information and guidance about recommended student vaccinations. In the case of the relatively new vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV), school nurses must be both knowledgeable about the…

This article reports on predictors of condom use with casual female sex partners on the part of Latino migrant day laborers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Results come from a secondary analysis of data from a cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling to interview 290 sexually active adult, male, migrant Latino day laborers. Regression…

Purpose: This paper aims to identify the preferences towards sex education and information from a religiously diverse sample of young people. The research builds on growing evidence towards religious affiliation having a strong influence on sexual attitudes and behaviour. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 3,007 young people aged 15-18…

The effect of psychiatric disorders on human immunodeficiency virus/sexually transmitted infection (HIV/STI) risk behaviors in juvenile justice youths is examined. Prevalence, persistence and prediction are addressed among four mutually exclusive diagnostic groups and results show a high prevalence rate of many HIV/STI sexual risk behaviors that…