Who Improved in a Trauma Intervention for HIV-Positive Women With Child Sexual Abuse Histories?

The Healing Our Women Program, an 11-week integrated trauma/HIV intervention designed for HIV-positive women with child sexual abuse histories, has been found to reduce psychological distress in treatment groups compared with wait-list controls (Chin, Wyatt, Carmona, Loeb, & Myers, 2004; Wyatt et al., 2011). This study examines the characteristics of participants who improved versus those who did not improve among participants who received the active intervention (N = 78) at post, 3-, and 6-month follow-up. Logistic regression analyses conducted post-intervention and at 3- and 6-month follow-ups examined demographic characteristics, treatment attendance, AIDS diagnosis, and total trauma burden as possible predictors of improvement. Results indicated that at posttest, total trauma burden was significantly associated with improvement. At 3-month follow-up, none of the variables discriminated the groups. At 6-month follow-up, total trauma burden was again significantly related to improvement. The results suggest that the intervention is most appropriate for women with high trauma burdens. Future HIV interventions should go beyond the "one size fits all" approach and consider the "fit" between intervention and participants.