HIV/STD Prevention Program for African American Males

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DESCRIPTION (provided by the applicant): Common use of condoms by young adults across all racial/ethic groups remains a formidable public health challenge, especially for African American males (Kennedy et al., 2007a,b,c; Kennedy et al., under review). As a call to action, a collaborative team of researchers proposes to conduct a four-year behavioral-driven research study to modify, implement and evaluate the efficacy of a promising brief condom promotion program in a two-arm randomized trial among African American males 18-24 years from 12 community centers on Chicago's South Side. Accordingly, we propose the following specific aims and related set of research questions: 1. Modify, implement, and assess the efficacy of a condom promotion program for African American males. 1.1. Will participants randomly assigned to the intervention report a statistically significant increase in the frequency of condom use and decrease in unprotected sexual intercourse (primary outcomes) relative to those assigned to the comparison group? 1.2. Will the intervention produce statistically significant positive effects on secondary outcomes (e.g., condom use self-efficacy, condom use decisional balance, etc.) relative to the comparison group? 1.3. Will the secondary outcomes mediate the relationship between intervention status and condom use (the primary outcome)? 2. Assess characteristics of program implementation and its relationship to changes in behavioral outcomes. 2.1. What was the level of implementation fidelity? 2.2. How is variation in implementation fidelity related to change in primary outcomes? For a nine-month formative phase, we will conduct a series of qualitative interviews with key informants and the target population to modify our existing program. Over the next 16 months, we will recruit 520 study participants from our recruitment sites to implement the intervention and comparison programs and assess the efficacy of the intervention program on a series of primary and secondary outcomes. Assuming 30% attrition rate (n=156), we expect to collect complete outcome data via Audio Computer Assisted Self Interview (ACASI) from about 364 participants over 12-months. In addition, we will conduct biological assessment of STDs to validate participants' self-reports on sexual behaviors at all assessment points. This proposed study is an extension of a recently completed NIH-funded R21 (PI: Kennedy) to develop, implement, and pilot a brief condom promotion program for African American males (Kennedy et al., 2007a,b,c; Kennedy et al., under review). We have assembled a collaborative team of experienced investigators and research partners to successfully implement this proposed project.