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The Context of HIV Risk Among Drug Users and Their Sexual Partners

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abusers, <strong>and</strong> other variables are needed to aid in developing specific<br />

hypotheses for study.<br />

Underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong> the many factors involved will require sophisticated<br />

skills in management <strong>and</strong> analysis <strong>of</strong> data collected from multiple<br />

sources. Univariate analyses that cannot account for interactions <strong>and</strong><br />

shared variance among variables are not likely to provide significant<br />

advances in information. Underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong> family interactions <strong>and</strong><br />

structures, <strong>of</strong> dyadic <strong>and</strong> sexual interactions, <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> drug-using <strong>and</strong><br />

nonusing social networks must be combined with an underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong><br />

individual factors to clarify how risk behaviors are developed <strong>and</strong><br />

maintained. Further, broad social factors beyond an individual’s control,<br />

such as economic conditions <strong>and</strong> needle or drug availability in the<br />

community, must be evaluated for their interactive effects with other<br />

determinants <strong>of</strong> risk. Such multifaceted studies will require sophisticated<br />

quantitative <strong>and</strong> qualitative methods.<br />

RESEARCH ON CONTEXT OF <strong>HIV</strong> RISK MUST BE GUIDED BY<br />

RELEVANT THEORETICAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF<br />

BEHAVIOR AND DISEASE<br />

Review participants noted that research on risk context has not been<br />

adequately guided by theory. This is especially unfortunate because<br />

epidemiological patterns tend to recur in drug abuse, <strong>and</strong> it is possible to<br />

use past experience <strong>and</strong> general theories to guide research. For example,<br />

patterns <strong>of</strong> drug use seen in the crack epidemic are being repeated as the<br />

use <strong>of</strong> methamphetamine rises. Similarly, patterns <strong>of</strong> sexual behavior<br />

associated with crack use may be seen in methamphetamine users.<br />

<strong>The</strong>oretical perspectives (e.g., social learning theory) have been used to<br />

plan intervention <strong>and</strong> prevention programs, but these perspectives have<br />

been less utilized to develop underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong> risk. <strong>The</strong>ory-based<br />

research on risk behaviors is difficult to develop <strong>and</strong> conduct because <strong>of</strong><br />

the needs to operationalize relevant constructs <strong>and</strong> to specify relationships<br />

<strong>of</strong> constructs to behaviors. In many cases, theory must be developed in<br />

conjunction with the collection <strong>of</strong> data on risk behaviors, so theory<br />

development, theory validation, <strong>and</strong> underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong> context will occur<br />

in a dynamic, reciprocal relationship. Certainly studies that can validate<br />

theoretical predictions have merit, but in many cases specific predictions<br />

must await data to help develop the theoretical framework. In cases when<br />

theory validation is not possible, to be guided by theory means that<br />

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