Measurable, malleable, and contributory: Toward a motivational framework for reducing risk of HIV/AIDS.

This article models key motivational factors that contribute to youth effort and future intentions to resist risk behaviors for HIV/AIDS. Quantitative questionnaire data were collected from 6,816 youth ages 10–24, in high-risk communities in Kenya and Tanzania. Lisrel 9.1 analysis tested a best-fitting model for individual and environmental predictors of youth effort and intentions to resist HIV/AIDS risk. It yielded 12 statistically significant paths that explained 46–65% of variance in abstinence effort and self-efficacy, future intentions, and success expectations. It represents a relatively comprehensive motivational framework to date for predicting youth resistance to HIV/AIDS risk. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]