A Risky Sex Prevention Intervention for Middle School Age Minority Girls
Condition: HIV; Risky Sex Prevention
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      African American adolescent females are more likely to have sex at an early age, to have
      older sex partners that have had multiple sexual experiences, and are less likely to use a
      condom than their white counterparts. Lack of sexual assertiveness is a factor in the risky
      sex behaviors of young African American women. African American girls at the greatest risk
      for contracting HIV are the ones that report that their partners could convince them to have
      sex and report trouble communicating their wishes related to sex. Thus far no intervention
      has addressed the disparate rate of HIV infection in young African American girls. This study
      is unique in promoting increases in racial pride as a component of empowerment to help
      African American girls self-protect against HIV. The study has the potential to empower young
      African American girls to delay sex initiation or reduce risky sex behaviors and thus reduce
      their risk of contracting HIV.
    

Detailed description: 
      This is a longitudinal intervention study with a study condition intervention and a control
      condition intervention. Potential participants will be invited to a recruitment meeting. If
      they choose to participate, they will be asked to sign informed consent or assent. There are
      4 data collections for moms and girls - 1 after recruitment but before the start of the
      intervention, 1 at the end of the intervention (after the girls 12 week intervention), 1
      three months after the end of the intervention (about 6 months after recruitment), and the
      final data collection 9 months after the end of the intervention (about 12 months from
      recruitment). Girls are asked to attend 12 group intervention sessions of about 2 hours each,
      once weekly, and then a final termination session that is followed by a celebration session
      to which their mothers are invited and then an evaluation session. Moms are asked to
      participate in 3 one hour education sessions over the 12 weeks that their daughters are in
      the weekly sessions, the celebration with their daughters, and then their evaluation session.
      Moms will also be asked to give their daughter empowering messages 5-7 times/week and girls
      asked to receive them. Finally, moms will be asked to receive calls from the study team once
      per month or 1 year to be asked about the empowering messages they have been sending their
      daughters.
    

Intervention name(s): Education, activities, empowerment, racial pride building; General Health education, activities
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Intervention focuses on information aimed toward reducing or preventing risky sex behaviors of minority adolescent females.; Intervention focuses on information regarding general health knowledge and healthy behaviors (not including sex).
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: HIV; risky sex prevention; intervention