HIV Prevention among African Americans: A Media Campaign

描述(由申请人提供)：在美国，异性传播艾滋病毒的比率在AAA中显著高于白人。同时的伙伴关系(在时间上重叠的性伙伴关系)通过性网络加速艾滋病毒的传播比具有相同总数的性伴侣的连续一夫一妻制更有效，并且在AAA中比白人更常见。最近的数学模拟表明，并发伙伴关系流行率的小幅下降可以导致人口艾滋病毒传播的显着变化。尽管美国艾滋病疫情的成功控制最终将需要关注推动美国艾滋病高并发率的强大背景力量，但迫切需要接触到大量人群的行为干预措施，以促进更安全的性行为实践，并改变不利的性行为网络模式。这项研究的目标是开发有效的大众媒体信息和战略，通过减少同时发生的性关系来减少艾滋病病毒在AA中的传播。我们将在北卡罗来纳州东部7个县18-34岁的AA男性和女性中进行定性和定量研究，以：1)构建针对同时参与伙伴关系的预防信息和沟通战略。2)与一家老牌通信公司合作，设计和实施一项具有文化竞争力的八个月大众传播活动，向协会通报并发与艾滋病毒传播之间的关系，并降低他们参与这一网络模式的意愿。3)通过在活动前后对600名男性和女性进行电话调查，评估这项运动对美国艾滋病协会关于并发的态度、信念和规范的影响，报告的参与同时存在的伙伴关系，以及报告的避孕套使用情况。这项研究是发展大众媒体宣传活动的关键的第一步，这一宣传活动将在美国东南部农村和全国范围内为AA机构开展的多成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.