Stanton, B.F., Li, X., Ricardo, I., Galbraith, J., Feigelman, S., & Kaljee, L. (1996).
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 150 (4), 363 - 372
Description of Intervention: Focus on Kids
The intervention, developed through ethnographic research, targeted pre- and early-adolescents in their existing friendship groups. Being in such a group was a requirement of enrollment. AIDS prevention education was based on a social cognitive model, Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), that uses cost and reward constructs to explain how intentions are formed to respond to threats in either adaptive or maladaptive ways.
The intervention consisted of 8 sessions: seven 1½-hour weekly meetings at local recreational centers and one day-long session at a rural campsite. The intervention was delivered in a large Eastern city to peer groups that consisted of 3 to 10 same-gender friends within 3 years of age of each other. The sessions were led by a pair of interventionists, at least one of whom was gender matched to the group. Most of the interventionists were African-American men and women recruited from the community.
Each session focused on one or more PMT concepts and also reviewed concepts from the prior session. Beginning in the first session and integrated throughout, a family genogram was used to illustrate the application of concepts to real-life situations.
Sessions emphasized values clarification and goal setting; presented facts regarding AIDS, STDs, contraception, and human development; and provided condoms. Multiple delivery formats were used to address individual variability in receptivity to media, e.g., videos, games, role-playing, acting, storytelling, and arts and crafts.
In the seventh session, participants developed community projects with specific target audiences and intervention messages. The eighth session included a presentation of the projects and concluded with a "graduation" ceremony.
|
Intervention Goal(s): To determine the effects of a peer network decision-making intervention to increase condom use among sexually active youth.
Intervention Setting: Recreation centers associated with public housing developments; rural campsite setting.
Population: Of the 383 African-American youths who participated in the study, 56% were male and 44% were female. The average age was 11 years, ranging from 9 to 15 years; 36% were sexually experienced prior to the study.
Comparison Condition: Individual youth attended weekly sessions, which included a movie with AIDS facts, discussion, and access to condoms.
Behavioral Findings: Sexually active youth who participated in the intervention reported significantly greater condom use than sexually active youth in the comparison condition.
Contact:
Bonita Stanton, MD
Department of Pediatrics
University of Maryland at Baltimore
700 West Lombard Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone: 410 706-5289
Fax: 410 706-0653
E-mail: bstanton@umabnet.ab.umd.edu
Go to Becoming a Responsible Teen
(BART)
This study meets CDC's HIV/AIDS Prevention Research Synthesis project criteria for relevance and methodological rigor and also has the positive and significant behavioral/health findings required for the Compendium. Date added 1/99
|