HIV Prevention Program for African American Teen Males

Based on the observation that African Americans are vastly more likely than their white and Hispanic counterparts to be infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has termed AIDS a "health crisis" for African Americans and has called for a heightened national response to this glaring racial disparity. The crisis is especially dramatic in the Southern United States. Thus, the search for effective interventions tailored to this population is a national priority. This study expands upon a previous study conducted among young African American men. In the previous study we developed and tested the efficacy of a brief, clinic-based, program designed to interactively promote safer sex for African American men (18 to 29 years of age) engaging in sex with women. Adjusted findings from the previous study provided relatively robust support for program efficacy, with men who received the intervention program being about two-thirds less likely, than controls, to acquire an STI during a 6-month period. This study expands on the work performed in the previous study by developing and testing a version for younger African American males (i.e., teen males).

The purpose of this study is to test the efficacy of a brief, clinic-based and theory-guided, intervention designed to reduce STI incidence among African American teen (15 to 20 years old) males presenting themselves for STI testing.

Inclusion criteria

• at least 15, but not more than 23 years of age
• attending the clinic for the expressed purpose of being tested for sexually transmitted infections
• engaging in penetrative sex (penile-vaginal or penile-anal) at least once in the past 2 months
• willingness to return for the two planned follow-up assessments

Exclusion criteria

• self-report of being HIV positive