Online Social Networking for HIV Prevention

描述（由申请人提供）：虽然已经有一些有效的艾滋病毒预防干预措施与年轻人一起开发，但大多数有效的艾滋病毒预防方案都是针对与男性发生性关系的成年男性（MSM），注射吸毒者（IDU）和成年异性恋者开发的。 我们目前缺乏（a）专门为青年，包括艾滋病毒高危青年设计的文化上适当的干预措施;（B）能够有效接触到传统教育系统之外的青年的干预措施。 在本提案中，我们奋进于开发和评估一个基于互联网的社交网络计划，该计划面向嵌入在互联网上最大的社交网站MySpace.com上的年轻人。 青年人参与设计和开发My_Network for Health_Space的各个方面，从而形成了一个互动性很强的网站，提供文化上适当和有效的艾滋病毒预防信息，同时利用面向青年的技术文化，同时利用互联网的巨大影响力。 我们将在该项目中实现以下具体目标： 1. 在MySpace.com网站上举办重点小组讨论会，为文化相关和适当的社交网页的开发提供信息，以促进青年之间关于预防艾滋病毒的对话。 2. 利用焦点小组的数据开发My_Network for Health_Space，该网站将并入最大的在线社交网站MySpace. com。 My_Network for Health_Space的特点可能包括：（a）与艾滋病毒有关的点对点教育互动聊天室、论坛、博客和推荐内容;（B）每周一次的动画系列剧，其中有多个角色，确定并解决艾滋病毒预防方面的长期挑战。 3. 对MySpace上的年轻人进行初步社交网络分析，以识别美国各地地理位置不同的离散而密集的网络集群 4. 将离散网络随机分配到一项试验中，该试验检查My_Network for Health_Space在保持禁欲、增加安全套使用和增加参与者艾滋病毒检测方面的功效。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): While there have been some effective HIV prevention interventions developed with young adults, the majority of programs with efficacy for HIV prevention have been developed for adult men who have sex with men (MSM), injection drug users (IDU) and adult heterosexuals. We currently lack (a) culturally appropriate interventions designed specifically for youth, including youth at elevated risk for HIV; and (b) interventions that can effectively reach youth outside our traditional educational system. In this proposal, we endeavor to develop and evaluate an Internet-based social networking program for young adults embedded on MySpace.com, the largest social networking site on the Internet. Youth with participate in every aspect of the design and development of My_Network for Health_Space, resulting in a highly interactive website with culturally appropriate and effective HIV prevention messages that simultaneously take advantage of the youth-oriented culture of technology while capitalizing on the enormous reach of the Internet. We will achieve the following specific aims in this project: 1. Conduct focus groups online at MySpace.com to inform the development of culturally relevant and appropriate social networking pages to promote dialogue about HIV Prevention among youth. 2. Use data from the focus groups to develop My_Network for Health_Space, a site that will be incorporated into the largest online social networking site, MySpace.com. Features of My_Network for Health_Space will likely include (a) peer-to-peer HIV related educational interactive chat rooms, forums, blogs, and testimonial components and (b) an animated weekly serial drama with multiple characters identifying and resolving challenges to HIV prevention over time. 3. Conduct a preliminary social network analysis of youth on MySpace to identify clusters of discrete and dense networks in geographically diverse locations across the U.S. 4. Randomize discrete networks to a trial examining the efficacy of My_Network for Health_Space for maintaining abstinence, increasing condom use, and increasing testing for HIV among participants.