COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL GROUP INTERVENTION TO ASSIST SUBSTANCE-DEPENDENTADOLESCENTS IN LOWERING HIV-INFECTION RISK

Substance dependent adolescents (N = 19), court referred into a reside ntial drug treatment facility received a five-session HIV risk-reducti on intervention that provided risk education, social competency skills (sexual assertion, partner negotiation, and communication skills), te chnical skills (condom use), and problem-solving training. Before and after the intervention, subjects completed measures of AIDS risk knowl edge, health locus of control, social support, attitudes toward HIV pr evention, attitudes toward condoms, self-efficacy, and perceptions of risk in addition to role-play assessments of behavioral skill resistin g high-risk coercions. Postintervention, subjects exhibited increased knowledge about HIV/AIDS, more favorable attitudes toward prevention, greater internal and lower external locus of control scores, more favo rable attitudes toward condom use, increased self-efficacy, and greate r recognition of HIV vulnerability. Following intervention, the percen tage of participants reporting sexual activity in high-risk contexts d ecreased, substantiating the intervention's effectiveness. Self-report data were corroborated by sexually transmitted disease treatment reco rds. This uncontrolled demonstration effort suggests that skills train ing based on cognitive-behavioral principles may be a promising interv ention strategy to lower vulnerable adolescents' risk for HIV infectio n.