title: Gender-Specific HIV Prevention Interventions for Women Who Use Alcohol and Other Drugs: The Evolution of the Science and Future Directions.
abstract: The use of alcohol and other drugs (AODs) is an important driver of gender disparities in HIV prevalence. Consequently, there is a need for women-specific HIV interventions that are conceptualized to address (1) women's risk behavior, their roles in sexual relationships, and gender power dynamics and (2) other issues commonly faced by women who use AODs, such as gender-based violence and victimization. This article presents the evolution of HIV prevention intervention research with women who use AODs. It looks at 3 generations of women-focused HIV research interventions, including first-generation projects that started in the 1990s, second-generation efforts where projects expanded in scope and included adaptions of evidence-based interventions for global relevance, and finally third-generation projects currently underway that combine biobehavioral methods and are being implemented in real-world settings. Because women who use AODs continue to report risk behaviors related to HIV, emphasis should be placed on training scientists to conduct gender-specific studies, increasing funding for new studies, and advocating to ensure that stigma-free services are available for these at-risk women.
authors.affiliation: *Substance Abuse Treatment Evaluations and Interventions Research Program, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC; †Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC; ‡Department of Psychology in the Public Interest, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC; §Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC; ‖Center for Drug Use and HIV Research, College of Nursing, New York University, New York, NY; ¶Alcohol, Tobacco & Other Drug Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa; #Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; **Addiction Research Center, Alternative Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia; and ††Columbia University School of Social Work, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Wendee M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Wechsberg
authors.forename: Sherry
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deren
authors.forename: Bronwyn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.forename: Irma
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kirtadze
authors.forename: William A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Zule
authors.forename: Brittni
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Howard
authors.forename: Nabila
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: El-Bassel
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D014932:Women's Health Services