Investments in the future of behavioral science: the University of California, San Francisco, Visiting Professors Program.

A need exists for the promotion of diversity in the scientific workforce to better address health disparities. In response to this need, funding agencies and institutions have developed programs to encourage ethnic-minority and early-career scientists to pursue research careers. We describe one such program, the University of California, San Francisco, Visiting Professors Program, which trains scientists to conduct HIV/AIDS-related research in communities of color.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of behavioral interventions to reduce HIV risk behaviors of Hispanics in the United States and Puerto Rico.

This systematic review examines the overall efficacy of HIV behavioral interventions designed to reduce HIV risk behaviors or incident sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among Hispanics residing in the United States or Puerto Rico. Data from 20 randomized and nonrandomized trials (N = 6,173 participants) available through January 2006 were included in this review. Interventions successfully reduced the odds of unprotected sex and number of sex partners, increased the odds of condom use, and decreased the odds of acquiring new STD infections.

Boyfriends, girlfriends and teenagers' risk of sexual involvement.

Context: Having a boyfriend or girlfriend, especially an older one, is associated with increased sexual risk in early adolescence. The mechanisms underlying this association are unclear.

Methods: Middle school students in Northern California were surveyed annually from 1997 to 2000.

Emotional distress, alcohol use, and peer violence among Mexican-American and European-American adolescents.

Purpose: To examine the longitudinal relations among emotional distress, alcohol use, and peer-directed violence.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with 297 young adolescents, randomly selected from the membership lists of a large health maintenance organization. Participants were aged 12-15 years, 55% were male, and were either Mexican-American (n = 147) or European-American (n = 150).

Draw the line/respect the line: a randomized trial of a middle school intervention to reduce sexual risk behaviors.

Objectives: This study evaluated the long-term effectiveness of Draw the Line/Respect the Line, a theoretically based curriculum designed to reduce sexual risk behaviors among middle school adolescents.

Methods: The randomized controlled trial involved 19 schools in northern California. A cohort of 2829 sixth graders was tracked for 36 months.

Marital conflict and acculturation among Mexican American husbands and wives.

This study examined the relationship between acculturation and multiple dimensions of marital conflict among Mexican American husbands and wives. Participants were 151 husbands and wives who were recruited from a health maintenance organization in northern California and individually interviewed. More acculturated husbands and wives engaged in less avoidance of conflict and were more expressive of their feelings in an argument.

HIV prevention in the Hispanic community: sex, culture, and empowerment.

To address the serious HIV epidemic in the Hispanic community in the United States, the underlying causes of the epidemic must be addressed. Marginalization, including homophobia, poverty, and racism, as well as cultural factors such as machismo and sexual silence disempower people, making HIV prevention difficult. This article reviews evidence for the impact of marginalization and cultural factors on HIV risk and proposes a cycle of disempowerment.

Latina adolescents: predicting intentions to have sex.

This study utilized the theory of reasoned action to examine how Latina adolescents' intentions to have sex in the coming month were influenced by their general attitude toward having sex and their perceptions of general social norms about having sex. Eighty-four Mexican American and Central American adolescent females ages 14 to 19 participated in telephone interviews. One group of 41 Mexican American adolescents was obtained through a telephone survey and the second group of 43 pregnant or parenting Mexican American and Central American adolescents was recruited from health clinics.

Collaborative HIV Prevention Research in Minority Communities Program: a model for developing investigators of color.

The Collaborative HIV Prevention Research in Minority Communities Program was developed to address the simultaneous overrepresentation of communities of color among those with HIV and under-representation of researchers of color at the National Institutes of Health. The program is designed to help scientists develop their programs of research and obtain significant research funding. The 27-month program has the following elements: small grant funding, a structured summer program, individualized long-term research collaboration, access to behavioral science expertise, and internal peer review of all products.

Interparental conflict and risk behaviors among Mexican American adolescents: a cognitive-emotional model.

This study used a cognitive-emotional model to examine the relations between multiple dimensions of interparental conflict and health risk behaviors among young adolescents. Participants were 151 Mexican American adolescents and their parents. At initial individual interviews, parents reported on conflict with their spouses, and adolescents reported on their parents' conflict, their appraisals of the conflict, their emotional distress, and their acculturation level.