Psychological interventions with AIDS and HIV: prevention and treatment

In the decade since acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was first diagnosed, behavioral research has focused intensively on risk reduction change processes and, to a lesser extent, on mental health needs of persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) conditions. Although research to date has yielded important findings for primary prevention efforts and has identified some psychological dimensions relevant to mental health interventions, there is a pressing need for much more systematic intervention outcome research in both the prevention/behavior change and emotional coping areas. Progress in these areas will be facilitated by better linkage of intervention approaches to behavioral theory; identification of intervention elements that produce HIV risk behavior change; evaluated field-testing of promising intervention models; continued focus on populations that remain at risk (such as gay men and injection drug users); and expansion of prevention efforts to urban, poor, and minority populations increasingly threatened as AIDS/HIV enters a "second wave." Although AIDS is still a relatively new problem, existing behavioral medicine conceptual models and intervention strategies can be adapted to meet the enormous challenges created by AIDS and HIV infection.