Behavioral science activities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A selected overview of exemplary programs

Health Related Surveillance Data on Violence Against Women

This article identifies sources of health-related surveillance data on violence against women at both state and local levels. State and local health data have much potential to address the surveillance of violence against women. Some data sources, however, are limited by existing coding systems and poor documentation. Others, such as population-based health surveys, could provide population-based data on women's experience of violence but are underused. Examples of a variety of initiatives are discussed.

Failure to seek health care among the mentally ill

This study describes failure to seek health care among 673 new adult clients seeking mental health services in the San Francisco Bay area. Overall, 49% (n = 328) reported a failure to seek health care they believed was needed in the past year. People with dual diagnosis, severe depression, chronic physical illness, fear of coercive treatment, private insurance, and no insurance were more likely to fail to seek health care. Greater use of private physicians decreased the odds of failure to seek health care. These findings highlight the need to target groups at risk for failure to seek health care and the need to design nonthreatening programs to improve health access for people with mental illness.

Advancing prevention research on child abuse, youth violence, and domestic violence: emerging strategies and issues

Prevention research on the related problems of child abuse, youth violence, and domestic violence has grown at an accelerating pace in recent years. In this context, a set of shared methodological issues has emerged as investigators seek to advance the interpersonal violence prevention knowledge base. This article considers some of the persistent methodological issues in these areas and points out emerging research strategies that are forging advances in garnering valid, rigorous, and useful knowledge to prevent interpersonal violence. Research issues and emerging strategies in three key domains of prevention research are considered, including complexities in validly conceptualizing and measuring varying forms of violence as specific targets for preventive intervention, research issues and strategies designed to reliably predict and identify future violence risk to be targeted by preventive intervention, and research issues and emerging strategies in the application of empirical methods to forge specific advances in preventive intervention strategies themselves.

A content analysis of hiv/aids information in psychology textbooks: implications for education, training, and practice

Early in the pandemic, psychologists who engaged in HIV/AIDS research and practice or care relied more on their "general" psychological knowledge and training than on HIV/AIDS-specific information or training for combating the disease. In the past two decades much has been gained from the contributions of psychologists working in the areas of HIV/AIDS prevention and intervention. However, little is known regarding how the discipline prepares its students for a career in HIV/AIDS research and practice/care. One important venue for educating future psychologists is college-level textbooks because they are often the students' gateway to the scientific literature in psychology. Therefore, presentation of adequate and accurate information in these texts is critical. The present study involved a review and content analysis of introductory, clinical/counseling, health, human sexuality, and social/community psychology textbooks. It revealed that some level of information regarding HIV/AIDS was found in the majority of most college-level psychology texts that were reviewed. However, many books do not present a comprehensive overview or review of this problem, and do not adequately address the role psychology and behavior change can play in abating it. Implications for education, training, and practices are discussed.

Quality of life among women living with HIV: the importance violence, social support, and self care behaviors

This paper describes the relationship between psychosocial factors and health related quality of life among 287 HIV-positive women using items from the Medical Outcomes Study HIV Health Survey to measure physical functioning, mental health and overall quality of life. Multivariate models tested the relative importance of sociodemographic characteristics, HIV-related factors and psychosocial variables in explaining these quality of life outcomes. A history of child sexual abuse and adult abuse, social support and health promoting self-care behaviors were the psychosocial factors studied. Women in the sample were on average 33 years old and had known they were HIV-positive for 41 months; 39% had been hospitalized at least once due to their HIV; 83% had children; 19% had a main sex partner who was also HIV-positive. More than one-half of the women (55%) had a history of injection drug use and 63% reported having been physically or sexually assaulted at least once as an adult. A history of childhood sexual abuse. reported by 41% of the sample, was significantly related to mental health after controlling for sociodemographic and HIV-related characteristics. Women with larger social support networks reported better mental health and overall quality of life. Women who practiced more self-care behaviors (healthy diet and vitamins, adequate sleep and exercise, and stress management) reported better physical and mental health and overall quality of life. The high prevalence of physical abuse and child sexual abuse reported by this sample underscores the importance of screening for domestic violence when providing services to HIV-positive women. That such potentially modifiable factors as social support and self care behaviors are strongly associated with health-related quality of life suggests a new opportunity to improve the lives of women living with HIV.

Estimating Hospital Charges Associated With Intimate Violence

The cost of treating intimate violence can be estimated by using data collected by hospital-based programs that identify and document such violence. This article examines previous methods applied to estimate hospital charges associated with violence as well as our own experience using data collected by a hospital-based violence prevention program in Chicago, Illinois. Five basic steps for estimating hospital charges associated with treating intimate violence are described. These steps, and the discussion of difficulties associated with accomplishing them, are to guide researchers in examining hospital costs of intimate violence victims identified by hospital-based violence prevention programs.