Decreased re-conviction rates of DUI offenders with intensive supervision and home confinement.

Background: In some jurisdictions, persons who are convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) are allowed to serve some portion of their prison sentence under home confinement as part of Intensive Supervision Programs (ISPs) which include pre-release psycho-education and close post-release supervision.

Objectives: Test the hypothesis that persons convicted of DUI offenses who have spent some portion of their sentence under home confinement, as compared to a historical comparison group, will exhibit a relatively low re-conviction rate.

Methods: Using administrative data for 1,410 repeat DUI offenders (302 members of the historical comparison group, 948 ISP members, and 160 persons who appear in both groups at different points in time), with a follow-up period of up to 3 years and 10 months, a marginal Cox model was employed to compare conviction rates of persons who experienced intensive supervision and home confinement with historical comparison group members.

Promoting a Sustainable Academic-Correctional Health Partnership: Lessons for Systemic Action Research.

In the United States, the phenomenon of mass incarceration has created a public health crisis. One strategy for addressing this crisis involves developing a correctional agency - academic institution partnership tasked with augmenting the quality and quantity of evidence-based healthcare delivered in state prisons and attracting a greater number of health professionals to the field of correctional health research. Using a Connecticut correctional agency - academic institution partnership as a case example, the present paper examines some of the key challenges encountered over the course of a 3-year capacity-building initiative.

Medication adherence among female inmates with bipolar disorder: results from a randomized controlled trial.

To describe the differences in medication adherence between 2 groups of inmates in the Connecticut Department of Correction diagnosed with bipolar disorder treated with either the Texas Implementation of Medication Algorithm (TIMA) for Bipolar Disorder or treatment as usual (TAU). Using a prospective longitudinal analysis of secondary data and chart data, a comparison was made between participants who were assigned either to TIMA or TAU and treated for 12 weeks for either Bipolar Disorder Type I or II. A secondary data set containing 12 weeks of medication data was combined with medical chart data, including medication administration records, which were retrospectively reviewed to determine numbers of psychotropic and other medications prescribed, number of doses per day prescribed, number of times the medications were taken, any patterns and reasons for missed doses, and side effects experienced.

Computer-based intervention in HIV clinical care setting improves antiretroviral adherence: the LifeWindows Project.

We evaluated the efficacy of LifeWindows, a theory-based, computer-administered antiretroviral (ARV) therapy adherence support intervention, delivered to HIV + patients at routine clinical care visits. 594 HIV + adults receiving HIV care at five clinics were randomized to intervention or control arms. Intervention vs.

Alcohol-involved sexual risk behavior among heavy drinkers living with HIV/AIDS: negative affect, self-efficacy, and sexual craving.

Evidence of the effects of negative affect (NA) and sexual craving on unprotected sexual activity remains scant. We hypothesized that NA and sexual craving modify the same day association between low self-efficacy to use condoms and unprotected anal or vaginal sex, and the same-day association between alcohol use during the 3 hours prior to sexual activity and unprotected sex. We used an electronic daily diary, drawing on a sample of 125 men and women recruited from an agency serving economically disadvantaged persons living with HIV/AIDS.

Craving and self-efficacy in the first five weeks of methadone maintenance therapy: a daily process study.

Objective: Among individuals initiating methadone maintenance therapy for heroin addiction, low craving and high self-efficacy are thought to predict treatment response; however, in the case of craving, findings have been inconsistent. This study will test two hypotheses: (1) craving and self-efficacy both predict treatment response and (2) withdrawal symptoms and sleep quality predict greater craving and greater self-efficacy, respectively.

Method: An exploratory study using electronic diary data and multilevel models examined these hypotheses.

Alcohol, helping young adults to have unprotected sex with casual partners: findings from a daily diary study of alcohol use and sexual behavior.

Purpose: To examine the event-level association between alcohol consumption and the likelihood of unprotected sex among college-age young adults considering contextual factors of partner type and amount of alcohol consumed.

Methods: A 30-day, Web-based, structured daily diary was used to collect daily reports of sexual behaviors and alcohol use from 116 sexually active young adults, yielding 2,764 diary records. Each day we assessed the prior evening's behavior regarding alcohol consumption, opportunities for sex, sexual intercourse, condom use, and contextual factors including type of sexual partner.

A daily process investigation of alcohol-involved sexual risk behavior among economically disadvantaged problem drinkers living with HIV/AIDS.

Alcohol use is believed to increase sexual risk behavior among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). As drinking and sexual risk acts often occur in the same social contexts, this association is difficult to confirm. In this study, electronic daily diaries were completed by 116 PLWHA over 5 weeks.

The information-motivation-behavioral skills model of ART adherence in a Deep South HIV+ clinic sample.

High levels of adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) are critical to the management of HIV, yet many people living with HIV do not achieve these levels. There is a substantial body of literature regarding correlates of adherence to ART, and theory-based multivariate models of ART adherence are emerging. The current study assessed the determinants of adherence behavior postulated by the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills model of ART adherence in a sample of 149 HIV-positive patients in Mississippi.

A brief individualized computer-delivered sexual risk reduction intervention increases HIV/AIDS preventive behavior.

Purpose: One objective of translational science is to identify elements of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk-reduction interventions that have been shown to be effective and find new ways of delivering these interventions to the community to ensure that they reach the widest possible audience of at-risk individuals. The current study reports the development and evaluation of a computer-delivered, theory-based, individually tailored HIV risk-reduction intervention.

Methods: This study evaluated the effectiveness of a custom computerized HIV/AIDS risk reduction intervention at increasing HIV/AIDS preventive behaviors in a randomized trial with 157 college students.

Visual analog scale of ART adherence: association with 3-day self-report and adherence barriers.

Background: Brief self-reports of antiretroviral therapy adherence that place minimal burden on patients and clinic staff are promising alternatives to more elaborate adherence assessments currently in use. This research assessed the association between self-reported adherence on visual analog scale (VASs) and an existing, more complex self-reported measure of adherence, the AACTG, and the degree to which each method distinguished optimally and suboptimally adherent patients in terms of reported barriers to adherence.

Methods: HIV-infected patients (N = 147) at a southeastern US clinic completed a computerized assessment including an antiretroviral therapy adherence VAS, a modified version of the AACTG, and a measure of adherence.

Why are you bringing up condoms now? The effect of message content on framing effects of condom use messages.

According to prospect theory (A. Tversky & D. Kahneman, 1981), messages advocating a low-risk (i.