Helping Families Reduce HIV in African American Youth

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DESCRIPTION (adapted from the applicant's abstract): This study responds to the need to develop and test theoretically grounded interventions to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases among children and youth by increasing condom use and by delaying initiation of sexual behavior, as well as by decreasing other HIV/STD risk-related behaviors. The disproportionate and increasing number of African Americans infected with HIV raises concerns among AIDS prevention specialists over how to respond to this population. African American youth and teens from lower income families with less educated parents are particularly at high risk for exposure. Distinctive cultural, social, psychological, and developmental differences influencing their high risk behaviors present a challenge for designing interventions to reduce the spread of AIDS and other STDs among African American youth. Building on the investigators' past and ongoing research, this study proposes to test a family-based intervention designed to prevent or reduce AIDS/STD risk behaviors among urban African American early adolescents (ages 11-13) from lower income families with less well educated parents. The intervention is designed to be culturally sensitive and delivered to small groups of parents in order to encourage normative support for risk reduction. The study will employ a randomized 2 X 2 factorial design with repeated measures. The factors include treatment type (information plus AIDS risk reduction skills strategies combined with personal empowerment (perceptions of self as capable and competent), communication and family management skills vs. an AIDS information and health promotion (i.e., health, nutrition, exercise, self-esteem) intervention) and group-leader type (parent led vs. professional led). In addition to assessing risk reduction behavior outcomes, variables hypothesized to mediate the intervention's effects will also be assessed. Assessments will occur at pretest prior to intervention, 2 weeks post intervention (post-test), and at 6- and 12- month follow-ups to assess maintenance of treatment affects.