The research presented here utilized a unique method for empirically investigating the extent to which there are a set of shared beliefs among a general population which influence health related behavior judgments. The health behavior domains examined are the initiation and maintenance of cigarette smoking cessation, weight loss and regular physical exercise. A ten dimension theoretically based multidimensional psychological model was developed to provide the framework of beliefs about what intrapsychic (personal) and external societal (environmental) factors influence health behavior probability judgments. The model includes such personal factors as belief in susceptibility to illness, confidence in ability to change, and one's stated intention to change. External factors include accessibility to behavior change resources, degree of social support for change, and the pervasiveness of a given health practice within a person's social environment. A factorial survey design was used to study how these factors are associated with initiating and maintaining health behavior change. Different levels of information from each model dimensions were randomly included in vignettes and presented to a sample of 222 Town of Amherst, MA, employees who each rated 30 separate vignettes as to the likelihood that the vignette person would initiate and then maintain either smoking cessation, weight loss and regular exercise. Regression analyses performed on the 1,390 rated vignettes ascertained that a relatively strong degree of consensus exists (R$\sp2$ =.38) among subjects regarding the most important factors involved in health behavior change efforts. It was empirically shown that whether just starting out or continuing to practice positive health behaviors, one's stated intentions to change, one's expressed level of confidence in their ability to change (self-efficacy) and the ongoing support and encouragement of family, friends and coworkers for changing health habits, are the key indices for predicting and explaining health related behavior change. The implications of these findings of future health education practice and research are discussed.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 27, 2009). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-11, Section: B, page: 6740. Adviser: Michael Reece.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Applied Health Science, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-04, Section: B, page: 1959. Adviser: Michael D. Reece. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed June 20, 2007)."

Since 1984, injecting drug users have been a subculture at high risk for infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). They become infected with HIV through the sharing of infected needles and other drug equipment, and through unprotected sex. These practices are embedded in the normative behaviors of the subculture; behaviors which addicts have difficulty changing. Persons who fall victim to drug abuse share a common career that begins with the reasons they began to inject drugs and coalesces in the processes by which they maintain their addiction. The most significant aspects of this career are those that put an injection drug user in life or death situations. Their perception of risk, their risk taking, and the forces of withdrawal that lead to the taking of risk all play an important role in the transmission of HIV. Central to the career of the addict are the social agencies with which s/he may come in contact. Whether geared to rehabilitation, incarceration, or AIDS prevention, social agencies are often the only institutions to interpret, intervene, and offer assistance on behalf of the drug user's current situation. Yet, these social agencies have been unsuccessful at curtailing the rate of infection among drug addicted persons. An innovative approach that addresses the complex problem of drug addiction and AIDS is proposed and demonstrated. This approach encourages the development of a user-driven model of drug recovery. A comprehensive approach to the dual epidemic of AIDS and drug abuse is needed to arrest control of the forces that threatens the life of a growing number of young adults nationwide.

This study explores the meaning of informal caregiving for individuals living with HIV disease. As the number of individuals living with HIV disease continues to increase, there is a need for research on both the structure of caregiving networks and the meaning these networks have for individuals living with chronic illness. This study is continuous with prior research on social support and the illness experience, but departs from past work by addressing both the objective features of social support relationships and the way that they are subjectively interpreted by people living with HIV disease. Fifty-four (n = 54) individuals living with HIV disease participated in in-depth, qualitative interviews (31 women, 23 men). Participants were recruited from local AIDS service organizations and healthcare facilities in Western New England. Interview data were analyzed using cluster analysis and content analysis techniques. Respondents' informal caregiving networks are summarized using five categories developed using cluster analysis. Content analysis of interview transcriptions illustrate the diverse way respondents interpreted the care they received from network members and the way in which their illness experience was shaped by the different contexts in which they received care. The way in which caregiving networks and respondents interpretations of them varied by gender, race and ethnicity, sexual identity and other self-identifications is discussed. This research furthers the literature on social support and chronic illness. As an exploratory project, the aim of the research was to describe how individuals living with HIV disease make sense of the care they do and do not receive from family members, friends and other informal caregivers. This study contributes to the literature on social support and HIV disease by focusing on low-income individuals, living in small towns and cities and two urban areas that have not been the focus of a great deal of HIV/AIDS research. The results of this study can be used to better understand and strengthen existing relationships within social support networks. This research also has direct implications for both formal and informal caregivers and programs and activities to support them.

Over 1,000,000 adolescent girls become pregnant each year, and nearly half of these girls give birth. Individuals between the ages of 20 and 29 account for nearly 20% of all documented AIDS cases. Given the long incubation period for the AIDS virus, many of these individuals were probably infected during sexual activity in adolescence. This exploratory research examined the predictive ability of demographic, developmental and personality variables on becoming sexually active, and on AIDS risk-taking and pregnancy risk-taking behavior in middle adolescence. A sample of 381 high school students (204 females, 177 males), age 14-18, from a town in Western Massachusetts completed a questionnaire. The majority of the sample (57%) reported having had sexual intercourse. Having a sexually active best friend, lower school achievement (GPA), lesser perceived parental support, and high sensation seeking needs were all associated with experience with sexual intercourse. Participants who initiated intercourse at a younger age, had higher sensation seeking needs, a sexual abuse history, and who were older were those who exhibited the highest levels of AIDS risk-taking behavior. Participants who were younger, who initiated sex earlier, and had a sexual abuse history were those most likely to exhibit pregnancy risk-taking behavior. Some significant gender differences were noted for factors influencing sexual risk-taking. Results provide further support for the effects of sexual abuse on adolescent development and sexuality. The findings suggest a need for education in middle and elementary school, and the importance of using peer-led intervention efforts.