A psychosocial comparison of New Orleans and Houston crack smokers in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The purpose of this study was to compare psychological distress in a sample of African American crack cocaine users who relocated to Houston from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to African American drug users resident in Houston. Fifty-four African Americans from New Orleans were compared to a sample of 162 people in Houston. Data were collected between June 2002 and December 2005.

Improving Condom Self-Efficacy and Use among Individuals Living with HIV: The Positive Choices Mapping Intervention.

Few interventions have been designed to improve behavioral outcomes and reduce risk of HIV transmission of individuals living with HIV, most focusing on preventative efforts directed at individuals who are HIV-negative. However, people living with HIV present individual and public health risks (infection with a different strain of HIV, health complications from contracting STD's, continued sexual activity with individuals with unknown HIV status) that have become the focus of intervention efforts. The current paper explores a promising new intervention, The Positive Choices Mapping intervention (PCM), designed to increase condom self-efficacy and use among African American crack cocaine smokers who are living with HIV.

Perceptions of risk in research participation among underserved minority drug users.

Research with underserved minority drug users is essential to quality health care and prevention. Understanding how participants perceive risk in research is necessary to inform research regulators so that research protections are neither lax, exposing participants to harm, nor overly stringent, thereby denying access to beneficial research. Data from 37 semistructured interviews of underserved, African-American crack cocaine users, collected from February to May 2006 in a large, urban setting, were analyzed using content analysis.

Decisions to participate in research: views of underserved minority drug users with or at risk for HIV.

Under-representation of minority populations, particularly African Americans, in HIV/AIDS research is problematic because African Americans bear a greater disease burden from HIV/AIDS. Studies of motivations for participating in research have emphasized factors affecting individuals' willingness to participate and barriers to participation, especially in regard to HIV vaccine research. Little is known about how underserved minority drug users perceive research and their decisions to participate.

Stages of consistent condom use, partner intimacy, condom use attitude, and self-efficacy in African-American crack cocaine users.

This study examined how condom use attitude, self-efficacy, and partner intimacy related to five stages of consistent condom use. Interview data were collected from sexually active, heterosexual, African-American crack cocaine smokers (N = 366). Dependent measures assessed both the participants' own responses and their perceptions about their last sex partner's own personal condom use attitude and participants' condom use self-efficacy expectations.

A cluster analysis of drug use and sexual HIV risks and their correlates in a sample of African-American crack cocaine smokers with HIV infection.

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to classify a sample of HIV-seropositive African-American crack cocaine smokers into homogenous HIV drug use and sexual risk groups using a two step multivariate cluster analysis. Two hundred and fifty-eight crack cocaine smokers participated in the study. Cluster analysis revealed three distinct HIV risk groups.

Multiple sexual partnerships in a sample of African-American crack smokers.

The sample for this study consisted of 692 sexually active African-American crack cocaine users living in Houston, TX who reported more than one sexual partner in the previous 30 days. Participants were asked to describe each of their two most recent partners from a list of eight choices: spouse/like a spouse/lover; close friend/friend/acquaintance/customer you like/customer. Analyses were conducted on the 1,384 partners and 692 partnership combinations reported.

Perceptions of financial payment for research participation among African-American drug users in HIV studies.

Background: Financial compensation for participating in research is controversial, especially when participants are recruited from economically disadvantaged and/or marginalized populations such as drug users. Little is known about these participants' own views regarding payment for research participation.

Objective: The objective of the study was to elicit underserved minority drug users' views about monetary payments for participating in research.

Characteristics, drug use, and sex partners of a sample of male sex workers.

Some male sex workers (MSWs) are also engaging in a significant amount of illicit drug use and other high risk behavior. The purpose of this study was to examine demographic characteristics, HIV risk behaviors, and sex partner characteristics in a sample of MSW. Data were collected from 179 men who were trading sex for money in Houston, TX.

Psychological correlates of trading sex for money among African American crack cocaine smokers.

This article compares demographic characteristics, sexual practices, and psychosocial status among 193 African American female crack cocaine users who currently, previously, or never traded sex for money. Current traders were less likely to have a main sexual partner, more likely to have a casual sexual partner, and more likely to smoke larger quantities of crack. There was a significant trend towards current traders reporting lower self-esteem, greater depression and anxiety, poorer decision-making confidence, more hostility, less social conformity, greater risk taking behaviors, and more problems growing up, compared to previous and never traders.

Male heterosexual crack smokers with multiple sex partners: between- and within-person predictors of condom use intention.

Little research has examined predictors of condom intention within concurrent partnerships. This study examined predictors of intention among 259 male African-American crack smokers with multiple partners. Each participant reported personal condom intention at next sex, condom use self-efficacy, responsibility and outcome expectances for himself and his perceptions for his last two sex partners.

An investigation of concurrent sex partnering in two samples of drug users having large numbers of sex partners.

The objective of this study was to quantitatively measure the nature of concurrent sex partnering in two samples of drug users having large numbers of sex partners. The purpose of this study was to measure concurrent sex partnering and overlap in concurrent sex partners in two samples of drug users in which some or all participants were trading sex-for-money. Two samples having large numbers of sex partners were used to conduct the analyses: drug-using male sex workers (MSW) and male and female crack cocaine smokers (CS) having vaginal sex.

Spatial bridging in a network of drug-using male sex workers.

This study sought to determine whether drug-using male sex workers (MSWs) spatially bridge sexual networks across cities and to determine whether the behaviors of MSWs who bridge differ from the behaviors of those who do not. Data were collected from 42 MSWs in Houston, Texas, between May 2003 and February 2004. Spatial bridging was defined as having traded sex for money in another city before traveling to and trading in Houston.

Medication compliance and satisfaction with treatment for HIV disease in a sample of African-American crack cocaine smokers.

The development of treatment regimes for African-American HIV-infected crack cocaine users has often been based on assumptions about compliance with medication regimes rather than evidence. This study sought to obtain baseline information on the adherence to antiretroviral medications by members of this important risk population in Houston, Texas. It was found that for only 5 of a range of 16 antiviral medications was there a significant correlation between levels of compliance reported by respondents and their beliefs as to how effective these medications are.

Condom use behaviors in HIV-infected African American crack cocaine users.

The purpose of this study was to investigate sexual risk behaviors and factors associated with consistent condom use of HIV+ African Americans receiving HAART who smoke crack. Participants were African Americans in Houston, Texas and over 18, being treated for HIV, and reported currently using crack. Measures included demographic variables, sexual behaviors, drug use, and nine psychosocial scales and seven escape scales.

Situational correlates of condom use in a sample of African-American drug users who are primarily crack cocaine users.

We studied the situational determinants of condom use for vaginal sex in 151 African-American crack cocaine users in Houston, Texas, using situational presentation (Sitpres) methodology, which uses hypothetical scenarios with randomly generated levels of eight variables across 10 scenarios that may impact the decision to use a condom. Multiple regression showed that variables associated with a high probability of using a condom were older age, how badly the partner wants to use a condom, and how badly the respondent wants vaginal sex. Crack craving or level of intoxication were not correlates.

Drug injection and sexual mixing patterns of drug-using male sex workers.

Background: Drug-using male sex workers (DUMSWs) are known to have large numbers of drug injection and sex partners.

Goals: The purpose of this study was to describe the assortative and disassortative drug injection and sexual mixing patterns of DUMSWs. Implications of the high rates of disassortative mixing patterns of DUMSWs for HIV infection are discussed.