Interpersonal/small-group communication

BASIL, M. (1994).

Interpersonal communication in news diffusion: A study of "Magic" Johnson's announcement. Journalism Quarterly. 71(2):305-320.

Presents a study of Magic Johnson's announcement that he had contracted AIDS. The results indicate that news that is personally relevant to an individual is more likely to be discussed with others.

BOSOMPRA, K. (1989).

Dissemination of health information among rural dwellers in Africa: A Ghanaian experience. Social Science & Medicine. 29(9):1133-1140.

Examines the effectiveness of the Ghanaian Ministry of Health's dissemination of health information within the country. Respondents to questionnaires relied on family, friends and radio for information about AIDS, oral rehydration therapy, cholera and immunizations. Data indicate that messages were not being properly and accurately conveyed.

BROCK, G.C. AND BEAZLEY, R.P. (1995).

Using the Health Belief Model to explain parents' participation on adolescents' at-home sexuality education activities. Journal of School Health. 65 (4):124-128.

The health belief model was used to study parents' involvement in six at-home sexuality education activities for ninth-grade students. These activities are part of Skills for Health Relationships (SHR): A Programme About Sexuality, AIDS and other STDs. Some 216 parents completed and returned a self-administered questionnaire. Perceived barriers correlated strongly with lack of parental involvement in SHR. Perceived barriers and perceived self-efficacy were the most significant factors differentiating parents involved in SHR at-home activities from those who were uninvolved. According to the results, SHR's inclusion of at-home activities shows promise for increasing parent-adolescent communication about sexuality.

BROWN, W.J. (1991).

An AIDS prevention campaign: Effects on attitudes, beliefs, and communication behavior. American Behavioral Scientist. 34 (6):666-678.

Research findings are reported from a field experiment of a specific AIDS prevention campaign that was intended to modify the attitudes, beliefs and communication behaviour of university students.

CABRAL, R.J., GALAVOTTI, C., GARGIULLO, P.M., ARMSTRONG, K., COHEN, A., GIELEN, A.C., & WATKINSON, L. (1996).

Paraprofesional delivery of a theory based HIV prevention counseling intervention for women. Public Health Reports. 111(1):75-82.

This report describes a mid-course process evaluation of an HIV risk-reduction counselling intervention delivered by specially trained peer para-professionals. One of the key questions addressed is whether para-professionals can successfully implement a theory-based counselling intervention. The project is known as Project Cares.

CHIPFAKACHA, V.G. (1998).

Inappropriate language as a barrier to health education: Its possible impact on STD/HIV/AIDS information, education and communication (IEC). XII World AIDS Conference. Abstract 43569. Geneva, June 28-July 3, p. 958.

This study conducted on how the language of several African cultures refers to sexually transmitted diseases finds that these languages tend to see STDs as women's diseases and occurring in promiscous people only. It is concluded that inappropriate language deters African women from seeking medical help when most needed, especially in cases of STDs.

CLINE, R.W., JOHNSON, S.J., AND FREEMAN, K.E. (1992).

Talk among sexual partners about AIDS: Interpersonal communication for risk reduction or risk enhancement? Health Communication. 4(1):39-56.

Results of this study question the validity of the assumption that talking about AIDS with partners facilitates AIDS prevention. It is recommended that strategies for reducing embarrassment in the process of negotiating condom use need to be investigated.

COLEMAN, C. (1993).

Influence of mass media and interpersonal communication on societal and personal risk judgments. Communication Research. 20(4):611-628.

The influences of mass media, interpersonal channels and self-efficacy on risk judgment are described using data from a sample of New York state residents. Personal-level risk was found to be influenced, to some degree, by mass media channels.

GERBERT, B. (1990).

Are patients talking to their physicians about AIDS? American Journal of Public Health. 80 (4):467-469.

The author describes a telephone survey conducted to determine if physicians are talking to their patients about AIDS. The survey found that AIDS-related conversations are not commonplace, and the patients usually initiate the conversation.

GRINSTEAD, O.A.. (1997).

HIV Counseling for behavior change. AIDS Education and Prevention. 9(2):125-132.

The purpose of this paper was to provide a framework for discussion in the working group of HIV Counselling for Behaviour Change at the third USAID HIV/AIDS Prevention Conference. Definitions of HIV counselling and types of counselling are discussed. The paper includes points of consensus and controversy regarding implementation and evaluation of HIV counselling, and a discussion of methodological issues in evaluating counselling outcomes. Key issues for further research are also included.

HAVANON, N. (1996),

"Talking to men and women about their sexual relationships", In S. Zeidenstein, & K. Moore (Eds.) Learning About Sexuality (p.110-118). New York, NY: Population Council.

The author describes the human dimensions in conducting a sexual behaviour study. Specifically refers to a study of married and single men and women employed in blue- and white-collar jobs in semi-urban communities near Bangkok, Thailand. Brings up issues related to researcher skills, data-gathering approaches, and cooperation of public health authorities as factors in effectively carrying out a sexual behaviour study within a cultural context where sexuality is not publicly discussed.

HOFSTETTER, C.R., HOVELL, M.F., MYERS, C.A., BLUMBERG, E., SIPAN, C., YUASA, T., AND S. KREITNER, (1995).

Patterns of communication about AIDS among Hispanic and Anglo adolescents. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 11(4):231-237.

This study examines exposure to AIDS information from mass media and interpersonal communication among a sample of Hispanic and Anglo lower middle-class adolescents. Both Hispanic and Anglo youths reported substantial exposure to information about AIDS from both mass media and interpersonal communication. The study concludes that it is important for preventive medicine practitioners to exploit differences in communication patterns when planning preventive intervention strategies that target specific adolescent populations.

HOLTZMAN, D. (1995).

Parent and peer communication effects on AIDS-related behavior among US high school students. Family Planning Perspectives. 27(6):235-240.

High school students who discussed HIV with their parents are less likely than those who did not to have had multiple sex partners, to have had unprotected sex and to have injected drugs. Young men were influenced more by discussions with peers, while young girls were influenced more by HIV discussions with parents.

LEAR, D. (1995).

Sexual communication in the age of AIDS: The construction of risk and trust among young adults. Social Science & Medicine. 41(9):1311-1323.

The study explores sexual communication among young adults, the influence gender and sexual orientation in negotiation for safer sex, the strategies employed for risk-reduction, and the barriers to safer sex. Negotiating for safer sex contains elements of impression management, and requires assertiveness and constant effort, even among those who have made the most progress in incorporating it.

MAKINWA, B., & ODINDO, R. (1996).

Misinformation among AIDS educators: A survey of key persons in Rwanda, Senegal, Rwanda and Tanzania. XI Int. Conf. AIDS. Vancouver. July 7-12.

Empirical data support the assumption that AIDS educators tend to convey mixed and erroneous information about the disease due to social and cultural beliefs. It is recommended that trainers and designers of training courses be aware of these beliefs so that they can improve training and transmision of factual information about HIV/AIDS.

MAKINWA, B., NKUSI, A., DIOUME, R., & ODINDO, R. (1996).

The use of mass media for public education on AIDS through training of journalists as AIDS educators in Rwanda, Senegal and Zimbabwe. XI Int. Conf. AIDS. Vancouver. July 7-12.

Systematic training of journalists to become AIDS educators can be useful not only because of improvements in the quality of information about HIV/AIDS, but also because the media can play a more important role in the prevention of the disease.

MAYS, V.M., & COCHRAN, S.D. (1987).

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and Black Americans: Special psychosocial issues. Public Health Reports. 102:224-231.

This paper examines three areas of concern when focusing on AIDS in the black population: differences from whites in patterns of transmission of the infection, cultural factors that may affect health education efforts, and ethnically relevant issues in the provision of medical care to black persons with AIDS. Recognition of these differences is important in developing appropriate AIDS-related services for the black population.

MERRIT, E. (1992).

What AIDS patients won't tell their doctors. The Journal of the American Medical Association. 267(1):171.

Three AIDS patients suggest ways of improving the relationship between doctors and AIDS patients. Many AIDS patients become frustrated because they feel doctors do not tell them everything they need to know.

NISHINO, Y. AND SCHUNCK, M. (1997).

Single Thai women's interpersonal communication and mass media reception on AIDS. AIDS Education and Prevention. 9(2):181-200.

This research examines young unmarried women's ways of talking about AIDS , AIDS prevention, and their reaction to mass media AIDS messages in Thailand. In a survey, respondents were asked about the subjects and extent of their discussion about AIDS, the choice of discussion partners, considerations of social appropriateness in talking about the disease, as well as their risk perception. Important findings were that women tend to talk about AIDS primarily with friends and siblings, their reception level of mass media messages is related to the number of topics discussed and frequency of talks, and socioeconomic status and age are related to the variety and frequency of talking about AIDS. Implications for AIDS education are discussed.

PITTAM, J. (1996).

The mediating role of narrative in intergroup processes: Talking about AIDS. Journal of Language and Social Psychology. 15(3):312-334.

The author analyses conversations among Australian heterosexual adults about HIV/AIDS and safe sex to show how the use of narrative mediates inter-group processes in spoken discourse.

PLISKIN, K.L. (1997).

Verbal intercourse and sexual communication: Impediments to STD prevention. Medical Anthropology Quarterly. 11(1):89-109.

This article explores the problems of risky sexual behaviour by examining the ways people verbally negotiate sexual interaction regarding sexually transmitted diseases. By examining difficulties people have with sexual health discourse and showing how these difficulties are related to both the problem of communicating politeness and the problem of representing the self and the sexual other, this article demonstrates that STD prevention programs overlook a very important emotional and communicative issue: the lack of a culturally-sanctioned language in which to discuss sexual health with partners.

REEL, B.W. (1994).

A test of the effectiveness of strategies for talking about AIDS and condom use. Journal of Applied Communication Research. 22(2):127-140.

This study investigates the strategies people report having used to discuss AIDS or condoms and the likely effectiveness of these messages. Some of the reasons people do not use condoms are also identified.

ROGERS, E.M. (1995).

Communication and community in a city under siege: The AIDS epidemic in San Francisco. Communication Research. 22(6):664-678.

The author analyses how the city of San Francisco was disrupted by the AIDS epidemic and how HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns tried to slow the epidemic. The epidemic and the communication response to it altered socially constructed notions about the community through changes in personal behaviour, interpersonal behaviour, and organizational activities in San Francisco.

ROTHENBERG, R., AND NARRAMORE, J. (1996).

The relevance of social network concepts to sexually transmitted disease control. Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 23(1):24-29.

For decades, many of the concepts of social network analysis have been tacit assumptions about sexually transmitted diseases control efforts. With the advent of AIDS in the 1980s, an overt rapprochement between these two fields - previously separated by culture, context and language - was made. According to the authors, social network constructs have immediate appeal to disease control workers, who view many diseases as following the conduits of social interactions. STDs and HIV, in turn, provide network analysis and those who model disease transmission with substantial sets of empirical data that test and illuminate theory. Disease control efforts can be enhanced by incorporating network concepts overtly into current practices.

SHEER, V.C., AND CLINE, R.J. (1995).

Individual differences in sensation seeking and sexual behavior: Implications for communication intervention for HIV/AIDS prevention among college students. Health Communication. 7 (3): 205-223.

Results of a survey of 315 college students show health although sensation-seeking behaviour is related to unsafe sexual behaviour, it is also somewhat related to condom use. Implications for HIV communication programmes are discussed.

SNYDER, L.B., AND ROUSE, R.A. (1995).

The media can have more than an impersonal impact: The case of AIDS risk perceptions and behaviors. Health Communication. 7(2):125-145.

The authors test Tyler and Cook's impersonal (and differential) impact model of the effects of exposure to communication channels on perceptions of personal and social risk. Implications for media-effects studies, risk analysis, and communication campaigns are discussed.

SHOOP, D.M. (1994).

AIDS and Adolescents: The relation of parent and partner communication to adolescent condom use. Journal of Adolescence. 17(2):137-148.

This study of 80 male and female heterosexual adolescents focuses on their sexual behaviour and condom use, AIDS knowledge, communication with sexual partners about AIDS, and communication with parents about sex and AIDS.

SKINNER, C.S., STRETCHER, V.J., & HOPSERS, H. (1996).

Physicians' recommendations for mammography: Do tailored messages make a difference? American Journal of Public Health. 84:43-49.

This study seeks to determine whether tailored, printed recommendations addressing women's specific screening, risk status, and perceptions about breast cancer and mammography are more effective than standardized printed recommendations. Results indicate that tailored messages are a more effective medium for physicians' mammography recommendations; tailoring may be especially important for women of low socioeconomic status.

WEEKS, K., LEVY, S.R., GORDON, A.K., HANDLER, A., PERHATS.C., AND FLAY. B.R. (1997).

Does parental involvement make a difference? The impact of parent interactive activities on students in a school-based AIDS prevention program. AIDS Education and Prevention. 9, Suppl. A:90-106.

The authors test the effectiveness of involving parents in school-based AIDS education with respect to altering AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, behavioural intentions, communication patterns, and behaviour of students. Results indicat that both treatment conditions (i.e. parent-interactive and non-interactive) have a strong positive impact on enhancing students' knowledge, attitudes, communication patterns, and behavioural intentions. The researchers conclude that in the treatment groups, the programme effects appear to be the result of school-based curricula and of student self-determined intentions and behaviours, rather than the presence or absence of planned parental involvement.

WEINSTEIN, N.D. (1987).

Introduction: Studying self-protective behavior. In N.D. Weinstein (Ed.), Taking Care: Understanding and Encouraging Self-Protective Behavior. (p.1-13). New York: Cambridge University Press.

The author introduces several contributions to studies about reasons why people do or do not take precautions. Theoretical aspects of cognitive processes as well as experiences from the field are reported, including studies on industrial safety and community crime prevention.

WHALEN, C.K. (1996).

Parent-Adolescents dialogues about AIDS. Journal of Family Psychology. 10(3):343-357.

The authors observe parents and young adolescents in grades six through eight during structured communication tasks focused on AIDS. Communication styles are compared across gender pairings, and their relationships to AIDS-related knowledge, worry, and stigmatizing attitudes are examined.

YOUSSEF, V. (1992).

Normative expectations for medical talk. Language and Communication. 12(2):123-131.

Inappropriate communicative strategies and their effects are assessed in counselor-patient interaction in pre- and post-test AIDS counselling in Trinidad & Tobago. The maintenance of an appropriate communicative framework at different linguistic levels is important to the conduct of counselling sessions.