New HIV Intervention Approaches for African American Youth

描述（由申请人提供）：非裔美国青少年受艾滋病毒/艾滋病和其他性传播感染（STIs）的影响不成比例（CDC, 2007a, 2007b, 2008a），强调了对这一人群进行进一步预防研究的重要性。拟议研究的目标是通过开发和测试一种新的干预方法来解决这些差异，该方法侧重于关系（例如，不同类型的关系，年轻人“勾搭”的背景），以及可能降低性风险的因素（例如，性伴侣的并发性，关于关系中浪漫和亲密事件顺序的规范），对于那些倾向于报告比其他种族/民族群体拥有更多性伴侣的非裔美国青年来说，这是潜在的重要行为目标（Eaton et al., 2006）。干预的潜在影响将采用匹配的试点测试设计进行测试，该设计涉及两所学校（约400名学生），其中学校被随机分配到干预条件或比较条件。在研究期间，青少年将接受3次评估：基线、干预后3个月和6个月，提供有关性冒险行为（如性伴侣、安全套使用）和相关决定因素的数据，如功能知识、态度、信仰、感知自我效能和与关系和性行为相关的感知规范。这项研究还将产生关于青少年关系特征的数据（例如，浪漫关系是如何发展的，不同类型关系的特征因素是什么，青少年如何看待他们关系的质量）。与R21机制一致，该研究结果将产生关于基于关系的HIV预防方法的潜在希望和可行性的新数据，这些数据可以在随机对照试验中进行测试。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): African American adolescents are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (CDC, 2007a, 2007b, 2008a), highlighting the importance of further prevention research for this population. The goal of the proposed study is to address these disparities by developing and testing a new intervention approach that focuses on relationships (e.g., the different types of relationships, the context in which youth "hook up"), as well as factors that might reduce sexual risk taking (e.g., concurrency of sexual partners, norms about the sequencing of romantic and intimate events in relationships), potentially important behavioral aims for African American youth who tend to report having more sexual partners than other racial/ethnic groups (Eaton et al., 2006). The potential effects of the intervention will be tested using a matched pilot-test design involving 2 schools (approximately 400 students), in which the schools are randomly assigned to either the intervention or comparison condition. Youth will be assessed 3 times during the study: baseline, 3 and 6 months following the intervention, providing data on sexual risk taking behaviors (e.g., sexual partners, condom use) and related determinants, such as functional knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, perceived self efficacy, and perceived norms related to relationships and sexual behaviors. The study also will yield data on characteristics of adolescents' relationships (e.g., how romantic relationships are developed, what factors characterize different types of relationships, how adolescents view the quality of their relationships). Consistent with the R21 mechanism, the study findings would yield new data on the potential promise and feasibility of a relationship-based approach to HIV prevention that could be tested in a randomized controlled trial. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: African American adolescents are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STI). More effective and accessible interventions are needed to address the HIV/STI related health disparities experienced by these youth. The proposed project has the potential to be of public health significance in the following ways: 1) it provides an additional resource for schools to address HIV/STI risk among youth, particularly African American youth; 2) if effective, a relationships-based approach to HIV would have broad appeal to schools, community-based organizations, and clinics serving adolescents because of its developmental focus; and 3) the study results could yield new insights regarding adolescents' relationships, potentially leading to promising strategies for reaching African American adolescents, an important contribution given the alarming rates of HIV and other STIs among this population group.