College of Behavioral & Social Sciences

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    Development and empirical test of the research-informed South African Relationship Functioning Assessment (SARFA)
    (Wiley, 2023-10-13) Belus, Jennifer M.; Hines, Abigail C.; Magidson, Jessica F.; Iwamoto, Derek K.; Rose, Alexandra L.; Li, Alison; Barnabas, Ruanne V.; van Heerden, Alastair
    Intimate partners play an important role in chronic diseases. Despite the chronic disease burden in sub-Saharan Africa, very few culturally relevant quantitative measures of intimate relationship functioning are available. We conducted an empirical investigation evaluating the psychometric properties of the South African Relationship Functioning Assessment (SARFA) assessing healthy relationship functioning in N = 150 community members (50% women; M age = 27.2 years) living in the Vulindlela area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Item development was based on prior qualitative research from two South African communities. All assessments were conducted in isiZulu, participants' primary language. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the initial 39-item measure. The best-fitting model consisted of one factor with 22 items. The SARFA's internal consistency was α = .94. Convergent validity was observed via significant positive associations (all rs ≥ .38, p < .001) between the SARFA's total score and measures of trust, emotional intimacy, constructive communication, sexual satisfaction, and relationship control (women only). Divergent validity was observed for women only. Encouraging initial psychometric properties of a culturally relevant measure of relationship functioning in KwaZulu-Natal may have relevance to other communities and potential to be used in research involving couples and health in chronic disease-burdened communities.
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    Patient and provider perceptions of a peer-delivered intervention (‘Khanya’) to improve anti-retroviral adherence and substance use in South Africa: a mixed methods analysis
    (Cambridge University Press, 2022-08-26) Rose, Alexandra L.; Belus, Jennifer M.; Hines, Abigail C.; Barrie, Issmatu; Regenauer, Kristen S.; Andersen, Lena S.; Joska, John A.; Ciya, Nonceba; Ndamase, Sibabalwe; Myers, Bronwyn; Safren, Steven A.; Magidson, Jessica F.
    Background. Despite a high prevalence of problematic substance use among people living with HIV in South Africa, there remains limited access to substance use services within the HIV care system. To address this gap, our team previously developed and adapted a six-session, peer-delivered problem-solving and behavioral activation-based intervention (Khanya) to improve HIV medication adherence and reduce substance use in Cape Town. This study evaluated patient and provider perspectives on the intervention to inform implementation and future adaptation. Methods. Following intervention completion, we conducted semi-structured individual interviews with patients (n = 23) and providers (n = 9) to understand perspectives on the feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness of Khanya and its implementation by a peer. Patients also quantitatively ranked the usefulness of individual intervention components (problem solving for medication adherence ‘Life-Steps’, behavioral activation, mindfulness training, and relapse prevention) at post-treatment and six months follow-up, which we triangulated with qualitative feedback to examine convergence and divergence across methods. Results. Patients and providers reported high overall acceptability, feasibility, and appropriateness of Khanya, although there were several feasibility challenges. Mindfulness and Life-Steps were identified as particularly acceptable, feasible, and appropriate components by patients across methods, whereas relapse prevention strategies were less salient. Behavioral activation results were less consistent across methods. Conclusions. Findings underscore the importance of examining patients’ perspectives on specific intervention components within intervention packages. While mindfulness training and peer delivery models were positively perceived by consumers, they are rarely used within taskshared behavioral interventions in low- and middle-income countries.