Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #107812

Lee M. Kochems, MA¹, Jon P. Mechling, AA¹, Dennis G. Fisher, PhD¹, Adi Jaffe, BA¹, Vincent Del Casino, PhD², and Jose Luis O. Guzman, CHW¹. (1) Center for Behavioral Research & Services, California State University, Long Beach, 1090 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90813, 562-495-2330, adijaffe@hotmail.com, (2) Department of Geography, California State University, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840

Objective: To describe a new instrument that measures Knowledge, Attitudes and Behavioral (KAB) intentions among program participants in a club drug intervention. Methods: Ninety-two gay and other men-who-have-sex–with-men (MSM) participants were enrolled in a two-session intervention consisting of an individual counseling session plus one group session. Participating men were pre- and post-tested to measure changes in KAB. A 3-month follow-up was conducted to measure maintenance of KAB change. Findings: Differences on KAB scores between session 1 and 2 showed a significant increase in knowledge related to club drug information and use. Participants (n=37) showed an average increase of seven (7) points on a scale ranging from 1 to 86 at post-test. Attitudes moved in a positive direction (mean increase of 1.69) at post-test. Participants' behavioral intention indicated less willingness to engage in risky behaviors both immediately after the intervention, at post-test (mean change of 10.17, t(22)=3.1, p=.005) and follow-up (mean change of 4.9). Conclusion: 1). This evidence-based club drug intervention for gay and other MSM effectively changed participants' knowledge, attitudes and behavioral intentions. We discuss how reinforcement and rumination may contribute to a positive change in KAB results. 2).The KAB instrument successfully measures changes in KAB scores.

Learning Objectives:

• Audience members will learn about the new KAB instrument for measuring knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about club drug use, and a pilot test exploring its use in a gay/MSM sample.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.