AIDS IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND HISPANIC ADOLESCENTS - A MULTISYSTEMIC APPROACH

The AIDS epidemic poses a significant challenge for mental health professionals, educators, and society at large. Recent studies have shown that AIDS has entered the adolescent population. The incidence is highest in African American and Hispanic populations. Other studies have shown that while adolescents are educated about AIDS, they inconsistently use ''safer sex'' practices. Traditional explanations and the models that flow from these explanations have focused on: the developmental psychodynamics of adolescence. The present paper proposes a multisystemic educational prevention approach to AIDS for adolescents. The model utilizes intrapersonal, interpersonal, and social processes incorporating the school-family-community system. The examples used in this paper, although relevant to the adolescent population in general, focus on AIDS in African American and Hispanic adolescents. In so doing, the sociocultural factors relevant to these populations ave emphasized. The role of the family therapist as the person ideally suited to develop, implement, and evaluate AIDS prevention programs is stressed throughout.