Effectiveness of HIV prevention for women: what is working?

The HIV-AIDS remains a public health problem which disproportionally affects women. However, prevention strategies have rarely considered their specific efficacy for them. For this reason, this study examines the differential effectiveness of six intervention elements based on socio-cognitive theories addressing young women. A controlled between-groups design examined the change in risk profile among 167 young Spanish women (mean age 21.3 years old) involved in five sexual risk prevention interventions (informative talk, attitudinal discussion, role-play, fear induction and informative website) and one control non-intervening group (waiting list). Our findings support the differential efficacy of some HIV preventive intervention elements comparing others for women. In particular, the attitudinal discussion stands out followed by the informative talk and the role play. Contrarily, the fear induction component did not reveal relevant improvements. This study provides new evidence related to HIV prevention. Particularly, the higher efficacy of motivational components for these young Spanish women is revealed.