Online Social Networking for HIV Prevention

说明(申请人提供)：虽然在年轻人中制定了一些有效的艾滋病毒预防干预措施，但大多数有效的艾滋病毒预防方案是为男男性行为者(MSM)、注射吸毒者(IDU)和成年异性恋者制定的。我们目前缺乏(A)专门为青年，包括艾滋病毒风险较高的青年设计的文化上适当的干预措施；以及(B)能够有效接触到我们传统教育系统以外的青年的干预措施。在这份提案中，我们致力于开发和评估一个嵌入MySpace.com的基于互联网的年轻人社交网络计划，MySpace.com是互联网上最大的社交网站。与青年一起参与My_Network for Health_Space的设计和开发的方方面面，形成了一个高度互动的网站，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。 我们将在这个项目中实现以下具体目标： 1.在MySpace.com网站上开展在线焦点小组，为开发具有文化相关性和适当的社交网络网页提供信息，以促进青年之间关于预防艾滋病毒的对话。 2.使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的功能可能包括(A)与艾滋病毒相关的点对点教育互动聊天室、论坛、博客和推荐信部分，以及(B)每周一次的动画连续剧，其中有多个角色，随着时间的推移，确定和解决艾滋病毒预防方面的挑战。 3.对MySpace上的年轻人进行初步的社交网络分析，以确定美国各地不同地理位置的离散和密集网络集群。 4.将离散的网络随机分配到一项试验中，检验My_Network for Health_Space在维持禁欲、增加避孕套使用和增加参与者艾滋病毒检测方面的有效性。

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.