We Prevent: A Dyadic Approach to HIV Prevention and Care Among Young Male Couples
Condition: HIV/AIDS
MeSH terms: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; HIV Infections
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      We Prevent seeks to develop and pilot test a developmentally-appropriate relationship skills
      session as an addition to the current Couples HIV Testing and Counseling (CHTC) intervention
      for young gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (YMSM). This project involves
      three phases to develop and pilot test the intervention. Phase I collected brief quantitative
      survey data, in-depth qualitative interview data, and cognitive interview data from YMSM and
      feedback from a technical expert group (TEG) to develop and refine the two-session
      intervention. Phase II involved conducting a one-arm pilot of the intervention condition to
      further refine the intervention content with a sample of 12 YMSM (6 dyads). Phase III
      involves conducting a randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing the relationship-focused
      intervention to a control condition, which is HIV Testing, Counseling, and Referrals (CTR)
      alone with a sample of 320 YMSM.
    

Detailed description: 
      Young (15-24 years old) gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (YMSM) continue to
      be the group most heavily impacted by HIV in the US, despite stable or declining rates of
      infection among other groups. HIV prevention and research efforts in the US have continued to
      target MSM as individuals, largely focusing on messages that encourage the uptake of
      prevention efforts and reducing sexual risk. Recently, there has been growing interest in
      structural interventions to reduce HIV risk, tackling social, economic and cultural factors
      that place MSM in contexts of risk. However, despite socio-ecological theory postulating the
      importance of individual, dyadic and social influences on HIV risk, there has been a dearth
      of intervention efforts focused at the dyadic level.

      We Prevent seeks to intervene on relationship communication skills as a pathway to HIV
      prevention during the critical period of adolescence. The proposed activities will develop
      and test a relationship skills focused HIV prevention intervention for young YMSM aged 15-24
      as an addition to the current HIV Counseling, Testing, and Referrals (CTR) and Couples HIV
      Testing and Counseling (CHTC). At home STI test kits will also be sent in Phases II and III
      at baseline and one follow up.

      Phase I of the project included collection of data from two groups of participants: 1) 30
      YMSM in in-depth interviews and 8 YMSM in cognitive interviews and 2) 7 Technical Experts
      (TEG), for a total sample of 45 research participants.

      Phase II consisted of a one-arm pilot test of the intervention condition with 6 YMSM dyads
      (total 12 participants). Participants completed a Baseline and 1-month follow-up assessment.

      Phase III involves a pilot two-arm prospective RCT in which 320 YMSM will complete a Baseline
      assessment and then complete assessments every 3 months for 9 months.

      Recruitment of all participants is in all 50 states and will be conducted through popular
      social media sites (e.g. Facebook). All interviews will be conducted through the HIPAA
      video-conferencing platforms, VSee and Zoom.

      Specific Aims:

      Phases I and II: To develop and refine a developmentally appropriate relationship skills
      session as an addition to the current CHTC intervention for 15-19 year old YMSM and their
      partners.

      Phase III: To conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing the efficacy of the
      adapted intervention for 15-24 year old YMSM versus a control condition, which is CTR or CHTC
      alone.
    

Intervention name(s): Relationship skills session for YMSM partnered-individuals and couples
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Relationship skills session as an addition to the current CTR and CHTC intervention for 15-24 year old YMSM and their partners.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: HIV, telehealth, HIV testing, YMSM, couples