mental health AIDS

Spring 2008 Newsletter / Volume 9, Issue 3

Resources

Books & Articles

Balfour, L., Kowal, J., Tasca, G.A., Cooper, C.L., Angel, J.B., MacPherson, P.A., Garber, G., Béïque, L., & Cameron, D.W. (2007). Development and psychometric validation of the HIV Treatment Knowledge Scale. AIDS Care, 19(9), 1141-1148.

"Existing HIV knowledge scales focus on disease transmission and risk factors. This is the first study to develop and validate a scale to measure HIV treatment knowledge about complex treatment issues such as adherence, side-effects and drug resistance. ... The [21-item] HIV Treatment Knowledge Scale is a novel, easy-to-administer measure demonstrating high levels of validity and reliability. It has important applications as a clinical teaching tool with patients and healthcare workers and it could be used as an outcome indicator in HIV educational intervention studies" (p. 1141).

Balfour, L., Tasca, G.A., Kowal, J., Corace, K., Cooper, C.L., Angel, J.B., Garber, G., MacPherson, P.A., & Cameron, D.W. (2007). Development and validation of the HIV Medication Readiness Scale. Assessment, 14(4), 408-416.

"The [10-item] HMRS is a brief, easy-to-use, clinically relevant tool that can assist in identifying people living with HIV at high risk of nonadherence, who might benefit from tailored readiness counseling prior to initiating HIV medications" (p. 408).

Bova, C., Burwick, T.N., & Quinones, M. (2008). Improving women's adjustment to HIV infection: Results of the Positive Life Skills workshop project. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 19(1), 58-65.

"This report describes the results of a program designed to assist HIV-infected women to reframe negative meanings associated with HIV infection and adjust to HIV infection. ... Small-group sessions (6-15 women) met weekly for 10 consecutive weeks to identify and dialogue about personal and group learning needs. Women explored the power of art, science, and alternative therapies as venues for reframing the meaning of HIV in their lives. ... Responses from the workshop participants over a 6-year time frame suggested that the [Positive Life Skills] workshop was effective at increasing antiretroviral adherence, improving mental well-being, and reducing stress" (p. 58).

Chernoff, R.A. (2007). Treating an HIV/AIDS patient's PTSD and medication nonadherence with cognitive-behavioral therapy: A principle-based approach. Cognitive & Behavioral Practice, 14(1), 107-117.

"This article presents the case study of a patient with HIV/AIDS who was unable to adhere to his antiretroviral medication regimen primarily because of PTSD [posttraumatic stress disorder] and depressive symptoms resulting from a sexual assault that had caused his seroconversion. Exposure-based cognitive-behavioral therapy was instrumental in helping the patient overcome his PTSD and depressive symptoms so that he could tolerate his HIV medications. ... The article discusses the importance of accurate assessment, therapist flexibility, and principle-based treatment versus strict adherence to manual-based protocols" (p. 107).

Harper, G.W. (2007). Sex isn't that simple: Culture and context in HIV prevention interventions for gay and bisexual male adolescents. American Psychologist, 62(8), 806-819.

"The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the need for an increased focus on the development of HIV prevention programs for gay and bisexual male adolescents and young adults and to offer guidance for the creation of such interventions. Since the social and sexual lives of these young people are impacted by a host of cultural and contextual factors, interventions should be designed to address the population-specific influences on both sexual risk and protective behaviors. Recommendations are offered regarding the range of multisystemic factors that may be addressed in these prevention programs, as well as activities that may be included in HIV prevention programs for gay and bisexual adolescents and young adults" (p. 807).

Harris, G.E., & Larsen, D. (2007). HIV peer counseling and the development of hope: Perspectives from peer counselors and peer counseling recipients. AIDS Patient Care & STDs, 21(11), 843-860.

"The present paper ... explores the benefits of peer support counseling from the perspective of 12 participants living with HIV who have had experiences with peer counseling. Participants identified several thematic benefits of peer support counseling, including the role of peer counselors in the process of fostering hope. Roles and benefits of peer counseling, in relation to the facilitation of hope for people living with HIV/AIDS, suggest potentially interesting implications for future research and practice in HIV/AIDS care" (p. 843).

Hawk, S.T. (2007). Disclosures of maternal HIV infection to seronegative children: A literature review. Journal of Social & Personal Relationships, 24(5), 657-673.

"This literature review devotes specific attention to rates and predictors of maternal disclosure, justifications for (non)disclosure, how mothers plan and execute disclosures, and postdisclosure adjustment in families. Although no research has conclusively shown that maternal disclosures are detrimental to children's wellbeing, findings on adjustment may differ depending on child age and whether mothers or children are the informants in research" (p. 657).

Lescano, C.M., Hadley, W.S., Beausoleil, N.I., Brown, L.K., D'eramo, D., & Zimskind, A. (2007). A brief screening measure of adolescent risk behavior. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 37(4), 325-336.

"This study examined the factor structure and reliability of a brief but comprehensive measure, the adolescent risk inventory (ARI), designed to assess adolescent risk behaviors and attitudes. ... These analyses suggest that the ARI can be useful in quickly identifying the broad range of risk behaviors found among adolescents with psychiatric disorders" (p. 325).

Maguire, C.P., McNally, C.J., Britton, P.J., Werth, J.L., Jr., & Borges, N.J. (2008). Challenges of work: Voices of persons with HIV disease. Counseling Psychologist, 36(1), 42-89.

"The purpose of this qualitative study was to provide in-depth descriptions of ... [the] vocational experiences of persons with HIV. ... Results support the need for ... mental health professionals to address real and perceived [employment-related] barriers, both internal and contextual, while also becoming advocates for persons with HIV who want to work. A model derived from qualitative data analysis provides visual representation of the work experiences of people living with HIV, for potential application in assessment and treatment" (p. 42).
 

Malow, R.M., Kershaw, T., Sipsma, H., Rosenberg, R., & Dévieux, J.G. (2007). HIV preventive interventions for adolescents: A look back and ahead. Current HIV/AIDS Reports, 4(4), 173-180.

"This article provides a review of the literature on interventions among adolescents, summarizing why adolescents provide a unique challenge for HIV prevention, the intervention approaches that have been taken, and the challenges and recommendations for the future as the field confronts the neurobiologic dimension of risk" (p. 173).

Morgan, B.D., & Rossi, A.P. (2007). Difficult-to-manage HIV/AIDS clients with psychiatric illness and substance abuse problems: A collaborative practice with psychiatric advanced practice nurses. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 18(6), 77-84.

"Complex clients with comorbid HIV disease, other medical illness, psychiatric illness, and substance abuse problems present tremendous challenges to providers. ... This report describes the practice of two advanced practice psychiatric registered nurses who worked collaboratively with each other and with nurse practitioners to provide care to such ... clients. ... [T]he model of collaboration used by the two practitioners ... [is actualized] through three case studies. Conclusions about the practice and its use with complex clients are provided" (p. 77).

Murphy, D.A. (2008). HIV-positive mothers' disclosure of their serostatus to their young children: A review. Clinical Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 13(1), 105-122.

"A great deal of recent research ... has been conducted to investigate maternal disclosure of HIV, and the outcomes on children. This article reviews the current state of the research literature, focusing on factors that appear to influence whether or not mothers chose to disclose; characteristics of children who have been made aware of their mothers' serostatus relative to children who remain unaware; factors that appear to influence children's reactions to maternal disclosure; and implications of this research as well as future research directions" (p. 105).

Safren, S.A., Wingood, G., & Altice, F.L. (2007). Strategies for primary HIV prevention that target behavioral change. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 45(Suppl. 4), S300-S307.

"In this report, tested initiatives for preventing HIV infection are summarized and their success evaluated for men who have sex with men, injection drug users, and women of minority racial groups. Objective evidence of reductions in high-risk behavior in these 3 groups, which account for the majority of HIV transmissions in the United States, has critical implications for reducing the overall rate of new HIV infections" (p. S300).

Sharpe, T.T., Glassman, M., & Collins, C. (2007). The use of epidemiologic and other data in selecting behavioral HIV prevention interventions for African-American women. Women & Health, 46(2-3), 145-166.

"We describe a 'research to practice' method by which ... HIV prevention service providers can integrate the findings of national surveillance with other sources of public health data. We suggest developing a comprehensive risk profile, based on multiple sources of data, to inform the selection and implementation of evidence-based behavioral interventions ... for African-American women" (p. 145).

Treisman, G., & Angelino, A. (2007). Interrelation between psychiatric disorders and the prevention and treatment of HIV infection. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 45(Suppl. 4), S313-S317.

"In this report, the interrelation between major depression and HIV infection is evaluated, the impact of this interrelation on adherence to HAART [highly active antiretroviral therapy] is described, and methods for effective treatment of psychiatric conditions in HIV-infected persons are discussed" (p. S313).

Wojna, V., Skolasky, R.L., McArthur, J.C., Maldonado, E., Hechavarria, R., Mayo, R., Selnes, O., Ginebra, T., de la Torre, T., Garcia, H., Kraiselburd, E., Melendez-Guerrero, L.M., Zorrilla, C.D., & Nath, A. (2007). Spanish validation of the HIV Dementia Scale in women. AIDS Patient Care & STDs, 21(12), 930-941.

"This study's purpose was to determine the psychometric properties of the Spanish-language HIV Dementia Scale (HDS) in a group of HIV-infected women. ... Modification of the HDS into a Spanish-language version consisted of translating the instructions, substituting four words in Spanish (gato, media, azul, piña), increasing 1 second in the psychomotor speed because the Spanish alphabet has more letters than the English alphabet, and not offering clues for memory recall. ... The HDS-Spanish translation offers a useful screening tool with value for the identification of Hispanic women at risk of developing HIV-associated symptomatic neurocognitive disturbances" (p. 930).

Zaller, N., Gillani, F.S., & Rich, J.D. (2007). A model of integrated primary care for HIV-positive patients with underlying substance use and mental illness. AIDS Care, 19(9), 1128-1133.

"In 2003, with funding from the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), we developed a model of integrated substance-use counselling and referral for treatment within a primary care HIV-care setting at The Miriam Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. The project uses a multidisciplinary approach to provide linkage to treatment services for substance use and mental illness as well as to help participants with social service needs, such as housing and medical coverage, to ensure continuity of care and optimal HIV treatment adherence" (p. 1128).

On the Web

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Updated Compendium of Evidence-Based HIV Prevention Interventions was posted on November 30, 2007, and may be found here: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/research/prs/evidence-based-interventions.htm. This Updated Compendium includes 49 evidence-based, individual- and group-level interventions derived from a comprehensive review of literature published between 1988 and 2005.

– Compiled by Abraham Feingold, Psy.D.

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