Predictors of maintained high-risk behaviors among impoverished women

The researchers sought to explore and describe the demographic, cognitive, psychosocial, and behavioral factors associated with the continued risky behavior of a convenience sample of homeless and drug-addicted women two to four weeks after they had completed an AIDS education program. The sample included 942 crack users and 767 women who had multiple sex partners. Analyses revealed that impoverished women who maintained multiple sexual partners were less likely to be in drug recovery programs than in homeless shelters. They were more likely to share needles and be involved sexually with male injection drug users compared with impoverished women who did not maintain multiple sexual partners. Persistent crack users were older than those who reported cessation of crack use, were more often African American, and were more likely to have sex partners who were injecting drug users. Women who demonstrated less improvement in depression and distress scores, concerns, use of affective coping, appraisal of threat, and social support were more likely to maintain crack use and multiple partners. The study's implications for the design of intervention programs aimed at risk reduction based on ethnicity are discussed.