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GRANTS AFFECTED BY TOOMEY/CHOCOLA AMENDMENT Offered By: Mr. Toomey 1. GRANT HD043689 Sexual risk-taking contributes directly to high rates of sexually transmitted disease and the continued spread of HIV infection. Despite many years of research, the mechanisms that lead to risk taking behavior are poorly understood. Specifically, prior research has largely assumed that sexual decision-making depends on rational thought processes, and has not adequately addressed the role that emotional state plays in influencing behavior. This project will conduct systematic research on the mechanisms underlying the interrelationships among various types of positive or negative emotional state and sexual risk taking. In a series of studies, the individual and combined effects of emotional state and interest on sexual risk taking will be examined. Individual differences will be studied between men and women. Scientific Relevance: The role of affect in sexually risky behaviors is not well understood. Much attention has been paid to risk cognitions, and decision-making models related to non-use of protection. However, the influence, for example, of "being in love" or being aroused, may override any cognitions involved in sexual behaviors for some people at some times. Whether and under what conditions an override exists will be examined in this study. The laboratory-based series of experiments to be conducted will permit fine-grained individual-level distinctions and analysis of the interrelationships of mood, sexual interest, arousal, and risk taking. The research was designed and proposed in response to recommendations by researchers and policy makers for a better understanding of the role of mood or emotions in emotions in sexual risk taking. For example, a 1994 Institute of Medicine report called for research to elucidate the role of psychological factors in sexual risk taking related to HIV risk. 2. GRANT RD01HD039789 This is a 5-year project currently in its third year of support. The grant was awarded to Michigan State University, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. This project examines interactions between human population and the environment in the Wolong Nature Reserve in China, the largest reserve for conserving endangered giant pandas. The reserve has more than 4,000 human residents in 942 households. Households traditionally included several generations, but this tradition is changing. Since 1975, Wolong's human population has grown 66% but the number of households has increased 115%. Consumption of fuel wood (used for cooking and heating) is the main link between the human population and the environment because it affects forest cover. The research has five objectives: 1) to understand human population processes and dynamics (e.g. in-migration, out-migration, marriage, divorce, fertility, mortality, and the location of households); 2) to examine the relationships between fuel wood consumption and household demography; 3) to identify spatial interactions between population and the environment; 4) to analyze reciprocal effects of population and the environments; and 5) to predict long-term spatial dynamics of population-environment interactions under different policy scenarios. Papers describing this research have been published in Nature, Science, and other journals. Significance: Human population size and growth in the size of the human population are usually considered important drivers of biodiversity loss. This study is one of the first to examine how household dynamics - such as changes in household size and number of households - affect the environment. 3. R03HD039206 A central focus of the NICHD's research mission is to expand our understanding of normal human development, from birth to maturity, which serves as a basis for understanding abnormal development. To accomplish this mission, the NICHD looks at developmental issues in all of the body systems, including psychosocial development and function. In 2000, an investigator-initiated grant application involving this area of research was submitted to the NIH by New England Research Institutes, Inc. for funding in the small grants program. The primary purpose of the grant proposal was to study changes over time in a range of behavioral and cognitive factors associated with male sexual functioning and behavior. As required by law, the application went through the normal grant review and award process, which included approval by a local Institutional Review Board and peer review by a panel of the Center for Scientific Review at the NIH; it received an excellent score. The grant was awarded in 2001. No new data were collected for this study. Instead, the researchers conducted a new analysis of data originally collected in the late 1980s, taking advantage of a dataset that tracked trends in the sexual behavior of men aged 40 - 70 years over a nine-year period. The new findings may prove to better inform us about one area of family life - sexual function and how it changes with age - that is highly relevant to family formation and stability. Nearly one out of ten births are fathered by men over 40 and many men in this age range are actively parenting children. In addition, sexual function can often be an important marker of an individual's overall health and well-being, but without a better understanding of age-related changes in men's sexual function, physicians may assume that declines in function are normal when they actually reflect early symptoms of diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. 4. R01DA013896 NIDA's grant portfolio includes research that looks directly or indirectly at drug use and risk-taking behaviors, including sexual behavior. Drugs of abuse can affect an individual's judgment and make people more vulnerable to risk taking, including increasing the likelihood that they will engage in risky sexual behaviors. Given the inextricable link between drug use and HIV/AIDS, it is important to focus on reducing risk behaviors and preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS among drug users and their sex partners by supporting the development and testing of prevention and treatment interventions. The social, neurobiological, and behavioral consequences of drug - mediated risk-taking is a considerable public health concern and important scientific endeavor. Grants on special populations that may have unique vulnerability factors to drug abuse or other risky behaviors include the Nemoto grant. This research effort is developing culturally-appropriate HIV/STD prevention interventions for Asian women to increase their resistance to drug abuse, HIV/STD infection and violence. SPECIFIC AIMS: The proposed study will describe drug use and HIV-related behaviors among Asian female commercial sex workers at massage parlors (Asian masseuses) in San Francisco. The study will also conduct an intervention and evaluate the efficacy of two intervention modalities: One which targets the environmental level (Massage Parlor Owner Education Program) and one which targets the individual level (Peer/Professional Counseling Program). Through this intervention study the determinants of HIV-related risk and protective behaviors among the targeted Thai and Vietnamese masseuses will be identified. The study will be conducted through the collaboration with the Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center (APIWC) which has been providing AIDS prevention programs to the target groups. The objectives of the study are: 1) To describe drug use and HIV-related behaviors among Asian masseuses at massage parlors where risk and urgent needs for intervention are evident but research has thus far been limited, 2) To examine the working conceptual model for the intervention which is specific to masseuses' gender culture and occupation, 3) To develop and evaluate the intervention programs in which the constructs of the conceptual model will be addressed at both individual and environmental levels to increase masseuses' protective behaviors against drug abuse HIV/STD infection and violence, and (4 To disseminate the study findings through local and national networks among AIDS service organizations (ASOs) and Asian American ethnic organizations and in professional journals. METHODS: The study has three stages: 1) Preparation of the study including staff training mapping focus groups and a pilot study, 2) Conducting the intervention study, and 3) Data analyses and dissemination of the study findings. Eight focus groups (for each group: Thai masseuses; Vietnamese masseuses; massage parlor owners; customers) will be conducted to identify and describe drug use and HIV-related behaviors at massage parlors. Based on the focus groups mapping and a pilot intervention study (owners and 4 masseuses) the intervention study will be finalized. The study will evaluate the efficacy of the intervention based on a (Owner Education vs. Control) by 3 (Peer Counseling vs. professional Counseling vs. Control) by (Thai vs. Vietnamese) longitudinal design (pre- post- and follow-up tests). A total of owners and 96 Thai and 96 Vietnamese masseuses will be randomly assigned to the conditions. The specific hypotheses and conceptual model will be tested by qualitative as well as quantitative analyses. SIGNIFICANCE: This will be the first HIV prevention intervention study targeting Asian commercial sex workers at massage parlors in the U.S. Asian masseuses are hard to reach and have been neglected by HIV/AIDS and drug abuse prevention efforts and health care systems. The study will assess the impact of drug abuse and HIV/STDs among the targeted and affected populations in the community promote protective work environment through massage parlor owners promote protective behaviors among masseuses and contribute to HIV prevention theories through incorporating the constructs of gender culture and occupation. 5. R01MH065871 Abstract: Native American (NA) gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) individuals (whom we will refer to as two-spirits) represent a population facing challenges from both within the NA and GLBT communities. They are a drastically understudied and underserved group, at risk for multiple psychological and health problems. There are no national, quantitative, representative studies of this population on any topic. This application for a FIRST TIME R01 by a NEW INVESTIGATOR reponds to PA-01-096 "Behavioral, Social, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Research with Diverse Populations." It is comprises four innovative and significant aims. First, we will conduct structured face-to-face survey interviews with 400 two-spirits drawn from six sites across the U.S. The in-depth, culturally tailored interview will provide epidemiologic health data crucial to developing policy in this area. Additionally, it will test a theoretically driven framework of stress, coping, and identity that the PI has spend the last 6 years developing and pilot testing. Second, in the process of recruiting this sample, we will test a peer-driven sampling strategy in order to approximate a representative, random sample of two-spirits in the U.S.. Our results will contribute toward the refinement of a sample strategy that will be an important tool for the study of other hidden and stigmatized populations. Our third aim is to conduct a qualitative study involving 12 focus groups and 30 key informant interviews in order to identify emergent themes regarding the stressors and coping strategies and pilot test new measures. Finally, we aim to develop the research infrastructure at the community agencies which are our six participant recruitment sites. With this structure in place, we will be in a good positive to continue our post-project goals of devising interventions to address the needs of two-spirits, testing them with R21-funded projects at the individual sites, with the eventual aim of conducting multi-site R01-funded trials interventions based on the cumulative knowledge from this line of research. To ensure the successful fulfillment of each aim, the PI has drawn upon the excellent research resources and facilities of the University of Washington and assembled a team of national experts to served as co-investigators and consultants, each with expertise in at least one aspect of the project and many with experience specifically with NA populations. |
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