Psychosocial Antecedents of Injection Risk Reduction

The AIDS risk reduction model (ARRM) predicts decreased occurrence of AIDS risk behavior through a three-stage process: (a) perceiving one's behavior as risky and recognizing one's skills to reduce the behavior, (b) forming an intention to change behavior, and (c) acting on that intention. The authors used the ARRM to test a stage-based longitudinal structural equation model of the impact of intention to reduce injection risk behavior on subsequent behavior change in a sample of 294 HIV-negative opiate-addicted individuals in treatment. Intended risk reduction and continuous participation in treatment significantly predicted less injection risk behavior. Greater self-efficacy, less baseline risk behavior, less perceived susceptibility to AIDS, and greater fear of AIDS predicted intention to reduce risk. Leverage points for change are discussed.