Drug Abuse and HIV/AIDS

Research Findings from May, 2003 Director's Report

This section lists selected summaries from NIDA funded research projects that investigate youth drug abuse and HIV/AIDS. The summaries provided were selected from recent issues of the Director's Report to the National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse. For a more comprehensive listing of NIDA funded projects see the Director's Report.

Drug Use Patterns and STIs among Young Adults in a High-Risk Neighborhood of NYC

Researchers sought to examine whether and how drug users, particularly IDUs and crack smokers, may be a core group for some sexually transmitted infections (STIs). They conducted a cross-sectional survey on drug use and assays for HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis, gonorrhea, and other sexually transmitted infections among 363 young (18-24) adults in an impoverished New York City minority neighborhood with major drug markets. They found that hepatitis C and HIV were concentrated among IDUs and that herpes, syphilis, and hepatitis B increased among women in relation to "hardest drug ever used." These findings suggest that using harder drugs (defined in increasing order of hardness as no drug use, marijuana use, non-injected heroin or cocaine use, crack smoking and injection drug use) is associated with some but not all of these STIs. The findings underscore the importance of targeted HIV prevention efforts to reduce unsafe sex and drug use among high-risk youth. Friedman, S.R., Flom, P.L., Kottiri, B.J., Zenilman, J., Curtis, R., Neaigus, A., Sandoval, M., Quinn, T. and Des Jarlais, D. Drug Use Patterns and Infection with Sexually Transmissible Agents Among Young Adults in a High-Risk Neighborhood in New York City. Addiction, 98, pp. 159-169, 2003.

Coping in Adolescent Children of HIV-Positive and HIV-Negative Substance Abusing Fathers

This study examines the coping techniques of adolescents whose fathers are at risk for contacting the HIV virus or have the HIV virus. Adolescent coping is an important aspect of the adolescent's vulnerability or resilience to drug use and abuse and associated problems. The data for this study was taken from an epidemiological study of fathers who are substance abusers and their adolescent offspring. Adolescents were asked questions regarding their ability to cope with the knowledge that their fathers have AIDS or may contract it. Adolescent adaptive coping was found to be positively related to the adolescents' conventionality, intrapersonal and interpersonal adjustment, and infrequent or no use of marijuana. Adolescent adaptive coping was also associated with paternal adaptive coping, a close father-child bond, and under some conditions, less paternal drug use. Furthermore, for every additional psychosocial risk factor beyond a minimal number, there is a doubling in the odds ratio of the adolescent using maladaptive techniques of coping. Knowledge of such relationships helps guide intervention and policy procedures for adolescents who are at risk because their fathers are HIV-positive or may contract HIV. Brook, D.W., Brook, J.S., Arencibia-Mireles, O., Whiteman, M., Pressman, M. and Rubenstone, E. Coping in Adolescent Children of HIV-Positive and HIV-Negative Substance Abusing Fathers. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 163 (1), pp. 5-23, 2002.