UCLA

An educational group curriculum was developed whereby a controlled trial involving an HIV prevention program designed and tailored to the lives of older African American women was carried out in a church setting. The model was tested using a sample of 62 women, 29 of whom were assigned to the experimental condition and 33 to the comparison condition. Measures of HIV knowledge, stigmatizing attitudes toward people living with HIV, self-efficacy beliefs and behaviors, and psychological wellbeing were utilized to test the effect of the 4-session group intervention on change in these variables from pretest to posttest. Between-within subjects analyses of variance showed that participation in the study was associated with an increase in HIV knowledge and self-efficacy regarding taking control of one’s life and circumstances, regardless of group assignment. In addition, participation in the study was associated with a significant improvement in the women’s psychological wellbeing; i.e., decreased depressive symptoms. This change in depressive symptoms was due in part to the experimental condition assignment. Efficacy beliefs about condom use and stigmatizing attitudes about people living with HIV were nonsignificant. Implications for future HIV prevention interventions and research are discussed.