Changing AIDS risk behavior: Effects of an intervention emphasizing AIDS risk reduction information, motivation, and behavioral skills in a college student population.

This research used the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills (IMB) model of AIDS risk behavior change (J. D. Fisher & Fisher, 1992a) to reduce AIDS risk behavior in a college student population. College students received an IMB model-based intervention that addressed AIDS risk reduction information, motivation, and behavioral skills deficits that had been empirically identified in this population, or were assigned to a no-treatment control condition. At a 1-month follow-up, results confirmed that the intervention resulted in increases in AIDS risk reduction information, motivation, and behavioral skills, as well as significant increases in condom accessibility, safer sex negotiations, and condom use during sexual intercourse. At a long-term follow-up, the intervention again resulted in significant increases in AIDS preventive behaviors.In 1992 at the University of Connecticut, researchers conducted a case control study to evaluate the effect of an AIDS risk reduction intervention on AIDS risk behavior in a college student population. They used the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills (IMB) model to design, implement, and evaluate the intervention. A health educator and five peer educators implemented the intervention, which consisted of three 2-hour sessions held 1 week apart. The first session, the information component, consisted of mainly an AIDS 101 humorous, heavily illustrated slide show that targeted information gaps. The second session, the motivation component, included small group discussions guided by peer educators followed by large group discussions guided by the health educator and a screening of a video entitled People Like Us. These discussions aimed to change attitudes and norms regarding preventive behavior and to influence students' perceptions of their social networks' support and expectations for safer sexual behavior. The third session, the behavioral skills component, focused on teaching the students how to effectively initiate and maintain safer sexual behavior in their own social environment and on influencing perceptions of self-efficacy and response efficacy. After 1 month, it appeared that the intervention significantly increased AIDS risk reduction information at the individual and group levels (p .0001). At the individual and group levels, it improved attitudes toward the performance of AIDS preventive acts (p .0001) and increased behavioral interventions to adopt preventive behaviors (p .0001 at individual level and p .059 at group level). The intervention significantly increased participants' perceptions of the effectiveness and ease with which they could enact critical AIDS preventive behaviors at both the individual and group levels. It also resulted in significant increases in condom accessibility, safer sex negotiations, and condom use during sexual intercourse at the individual and group levels. It had a significant effect on follow-up HIV testing at the individual level (p .05).