FACTORS INFLUENCING CHANGE BEHAVIOR: RISK REDUCTION FOR HIV INFECTION

Theoretically informed models are estimated that specify main and interaction effects of a general change to safer/healthier behavior. The subjects of this study are participants in an ongoing longitudinal panel study of adaptations to stress. The sample consists of a portion of those identified in their mid-twenties (Time 4) as at high risk for HIV infection and successfully reinterviewed. A matched group of those at Time 4 who were at low risk for HIV infection were also reinterviewed as part of this analysis. One Ordinary Least Square regression model was estimated in which five independent variables, six control variables, and ten interaction terms are regressed on the dependent variable. In general, the results support many of the factors of the Health Belief Model (HBM), but provide other factors, including interaction effects, which are also relevant to a general change in behavior.