Parole Officer–parolee Relationships and HIV Risk Behaviors during Community Supervision

• Published in: AIDS and behavior Vol. 17; no. 8; pp. 2667 - 2675
• Main Authors: Green, Traci C., Johnson, Jennifer, Harrington, Magdalena, Pouget, Enrique R., Rhodes, Anne G., Taxman, Faye S., O’Connell, Daniel J., Martin, Steven S., Prendergast, Michael, Friedmann, Peter D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01-10-2013; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; Adult; Community Health Services; Criminals - psychology; Criminals - statistics & numerical data; Drug Injection; Female; Females; Health Psychology; Health risks; HIV; HIV Infections - epidemiology; HIV Infections - prevention & control; HIV Infections - psychology; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Infectious Diseases; Law Enforcement - methods; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Males; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Methodology (Data Collection); Original Paper; Parole & probation; Parole officers; Prisoners - legislation & jurisprudence; Prisoners - psychology; Professional relationships; Public Health; Recidivism; Risk; Risk factors; Risk taking; Secondary Prevention; Sexual Behavior; Sexual Behavior - psychology; Sexual Behavior - statistics & numerical data; Sexual Partners; Sexually transmitted diseases; Social Support; STD; Supervision; United States - epidemiology; Women; United States; Women; Working alliance; HIV risk behaviors; Community supervision; Parole
• ISSN: 1090-7165; 1573-3254
• DOI: 10.1007/s10461-011-0081-1

We tested if good parole officer (PO)–parolee relationships reduce HIV risk behaviors during parole, as they do for risk of rearrest. Analyses used data from 374 parolees enrolled in a randomized clinical trial. Past month HIV risk behaviors were assessed by interview at baseline, 3- and 9-months after parole initiation. The Working Alliance Inventory and the Dual-Role Relationships Inventory measured PO relationship. Gender-stratified multivariate regressions tested associations of PO–parolee relationship with sex with multiple partners, unprotected sex with risky partner(s), and drug injection. Women parolees (
n
 = 65) who reported better PO relationship characteristics were less likely to report having multiple sex partners [adjusted odds ratio: 0.82 (0.69, 0.98) at 3-months, 0.89 (0.80, 0.99) at 9-months], and, among those reporting multiple sex partners, had fewer partners on average [adjusted relative risk 0.98 (0.96, 0.99)]. These effects were not found among men. PO–parolee relationship quality can influence sexual risk behaviors among women parolees.