HIV Prevention among African Americans: A Media Campaign

描述（由申请人提供）：美国异性性传播艾滋病毒感染率在AA中明显高于白人。同时存在的伴侣关系（时间上重叠的性伴侣关系）通过性网络加速艾滋病毒的传播，比性伴侣总数相同的连续一夫一妻制更有效，并且在AA中比白人更常见。最近的数学模拟表明，并发性伴侣流行率的小幅下降可导致人口艾滋病毒传播的显著变化。尽管成功控制美国艾滋病疫情最终需要关注促进AA高并发率的强大背景力量，但迫切需要对大规模人群进行行为干预，以促进安全性行为并改变不良的性网络模式。 本研究的目标是制定有效的大众媒体信息和战略，以减少艾滋病毒在AA之间的传播，减少并发性伙伴关系。我们将在北卡罗来纳州东部7个县的18-34岁的AA男性和女性中进行定性和定量研究，以：1）构建预防信息和沟通策略，目标是参与并行伙伴关系。2)与一家成熟的通信公司合作，设计和实施一个文化上有能力的八个月的大众传播运动，告知AA关于并发症和艾滋病毒传播之间的关系，并减少他们参与这种网络模式的意愿。3)通过对600名男性和女性在运动前后进行电话调查，评估运动对AA的态度、信念和关于并发性行为的规范、报告的并发性伙伴关系参与情况以及报告的安全套使用情况的影响。这项研究代表了大众媒体运动发展的关键第一步，该运动将在美国东南部农村和全国各地的AA多组分艾滋病毒预防计划中发挥关键作用。

DESCRIPTION (provided by the applicant): U.S. rates of heterosexually transmitted HIV infection are dramatically higher among AAs than Whites. Concurrent partnerships (sexual partnerships that overlap in time) speed transmission of HIV through sexual networks much more effectively than does serial monogamy with the same total number of sexual partners and are more common among AAs than Whites. Recent mathematical simulations demonstrate that small decreases in the prevalence of concurrent partnerships can result in marked changes in population HIV transmission. Although successful control of the US HIV epidemic will ultimately require attention to the powerful contextual forces that promote AAs' high concurrency rates, there is an urgent need for behavioral interventions that reach large groups of people to promote safer sex practices and change adverse sexual network patterns. The goal of this research is to develop effective mass media messages and strategies to decrease HIV transmission among AAs by reducing concurrent sexual partnerships. We will conduct qualitative and quantitative research among AA men and women, ages 18-34, in 7 eastern North Carolina counties to: 1) Construct prevention messages and communication strategies that target participation in concurrent partnerships. 2) Work with an established communications firm to design and implement a culturally competent eight-month mass communication campaign that informs AAs about the relationship between concurrency and HIV dissemination and decreases their willingness to participate in this network pattern. 3) Evaluate the campaign's effects on AAs' attitudes, beliefs, and norms about concurrency, reported participation in concurrent partnerships, and reported condom use through the conduct of phone surveys among 600 men and women before and after the campaign. This research represents a critical first step in the development of a mass media campaign that will play a key role in a multi-component HIV prevention program for AAs in the rural Southeastern US and throughout the nation.