AIDS Risk Reduction for College Students

Investigators: Diane I. Kimble Willcutts, Jeffrey Fisher, William Fisher, & Stephen J. Misovich

Originally designed as a workshop for college students, this program consists of three two-hour sessions incorporating information, motivation, and behavioral strategies for AIDS risk reduction. The information component includes "AIDS 101," a slide show that explains the transmission and prevention of HIV, testing for the virus, and the importance of condoms for protection against HIV/AIDS among those who are sexually active. The motivation component is addressed through small-group discussions led by a peer health educator and a video narrated by persons who contracted HIV through unsafe heterosexual intercourse. Finally, behavioral skills development is encouraged through role plays of safe sex communication. In a field study of the program with 744 college students, participants showed significant gains in knowledge, motivation, and behavior; in particular, sexually active participants were more likely than similar control students to purchase and use condoms during a two- to four-month period following the intervention. Click here to view more detailed information on this program.

ASSESS for Adolescent Risk Reduction

Investigators: Bradley O. Boekeloo

The ASSESS program provides tools to enhance risk-reduction communication between health care providers and teens while in a physician's office or clinic setting. A randomized controlled behavioral intervention trial of the program was conducted in the metropolitan Washington, DC area between 1995 and 1997. The trial involved 19 physicians at five primary care pediatric practices, and 215 teens who were randomly assigned to intervention (n=205) or control group (n=114) conditions. Control group teens received their usual health care examination. Intervention group teens listened to an audiotape and answered 11 risk-related questions. The physician used answer sheets, pamphlets, an icebreaker activity and role-playing strategies to encourage risk behavior discussion and practice risk refusal strategies. Participants were interviewed post-checkup to determine how many sexual health topics they had discussed with their provider. Telephone follow-up interviews were conducted at three months and nine months. Study findings showed that more intervention teens reported discussing sexual topics with their physicians than did control group teens. At three-month follow-up, more sexually active intervention group teens reported condom use than control group teens. While more vaginal intercourse was also reported in the intervention group than the control group, this was not true of overall sexual intercourse. At nine months, there were no group differences in sexual behavior; however, more signs of STDs were reported by the control than the intervention group. Click here to view more detailed information on this program.

Adolescent Decision-Making and Contraceptive Behavior: San Francisco, 1984-1986

Investigators: Nancy E. Adler, Susan M. Kegeles, & Charles E. Irwin, Jr.

This study examined adolescents' decision-making regarding contraceptive use and its relation to their contraceptive and reproductive intentions and actual behavior. The four contraceptive methods most commonly used by adolescents were examined: the pill, diaphragm, condom, and withdrawal. The research used an expended version of the theory of reasoned action. The main hypothesis was that adolescents would engage in active decision-making. It was predicted that adolescents would act rationally and that their contraceptive intentions would follow from their beliefs, values, and perceptions of social norms surrounding the use of contraceptives. Measures included self reports of sexual behavior (e.g., number of partners, frequency of intercourse), contraceptive behavior, prior use of contraception, prior sexual behavior, pregnancy, assessment of decision processes relating to contraceptive use, beliefs and attitudes about and evaluation of the consequences of using contraception, perceptions of the wishes of others regarding the use of contraception, motivation to comply with the wishes of others concerning contraception, views of general social expectations regarding use of contraceptives, and intention to use contraceptives.

Adolescent Sexual Health Resources

Investigators: Sociometrics Corporation

This product consists of 5 resources: (1) 188 Facts About Teen Sex, Contraception, Pregnancy, Parenting, and Sexually Transmitted Infections. This handbook offers an accessible, reliable source of science-based facts on teen sex, contraception, pregnancy, parenthood, and sexually transmitted infections. (2) The Complete HIV/AIDS Teaching Kit. In a concise and convenient format The Complete HIV/AIDS Teaching Kit provides a multidisciplinary approach to teaching the biomedical, social, psychological, and behavioral aspects of HIV transmission, prevention and treatment-offering readers a full understanding of the disease. (3) Adolescent Sexual Health Education: An Activity Sourcebook. This sourcebook contains more than sixty ready-to-use activities to help practitioners educate teens about pregnancy and STD/HIV/AIDS prevention. (4) Model Programs for Adolescent Sexual Health. This is a directory of the most promising and proven effective sexual education and prevention programs in the United States. (5) Assessing Your Community's Needs and Assets: A Collaborative Approach to Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention. This guide will assist you in planning your needs assessment and evaluating the potential intervention strategies for your adolescent pregnancy prevention program.

Adolescent Women's Contraceptive Decision Making Project, Baltimore City, 1988

Investigators: Carol Weisman and Stacey Plichta

The Adolescent Women's Contraceptive Decision-Making Project, Baltimore City, 1988 is a six-month, longitudinal study that explores the use of contraceptives among adolescent women. The objective of the study was to determine whether consistency of contraceptive use is associated with the young woman's social network (family, friends, and sexual partners) and their attitudes towards pregnancy and contraception. Respondents were surveyed at three points in time: At baseline, at 3 months, and at 6 months. A total of 430 cases and 2,678 variables are included in this study. Other topics addressed in the study include: demographics (household characteristics/composition, race, education, employment, religion, etc.); contraceptive behavior; and attitudes toward pregnancy and contraception.

Adolescent Women's Contraceptive Decision-Making Project, Baltimore City, 1988

Investigators: Carol Weisman & Stacey Plichta

This study explores the use of contraceptives among adolescent women. The objective of this longitudinal study was to determine whether consistency of contraceptive use is associated with the young woman's social network (family, friends, and sexual partners) and their attitudes towards pregnancy and contraception. Respondents were surveyed at three points in time: At baseline, at 3 months, and at 6 months. A total of 430 cases and 2,678 variables are included in this study. Other topics in the study include: demographics (household characteristics/composition, race, education, employment, religion, etc.); contraceptive behavior; and attitudes toward pregnancy and contraception.

Adolescents Living Safely: AIDS Awareness, Attitudes and Actions

Investigators: Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus, Ph.D., Sutherland Miller, Ph.D., Cheryl Koopman, Ph.D., Clara Haignere, Ph.D. & Calvin Selfridge

To meet the comprehensive needs of runaway youths between 11 and 18 years of age, this program combines 20 small group discussion sessions with case management and private counseling. The group sessions provide general instruction about HIV/AIDS through video and art workshops in which youth create their own educational materials and review commercially available videos. Participants also receive behavioral and cognitive skills training for coping with high-risk situations. The case management and counseling components are designed to identify individual needs and provide youth with appropriate services (e.g., legal, medical, vocational). A field study of the program was conducted at two urban shelters serving predominantly African-American runaways. The sessions were held over a three week period, but youth joined the program at various points, and their levels of participation varied. For runaways who attended at least fifteen sessions, the high-risk pattern of sexual behavior dropped in frequency from 20% to zero over a six-month period. At the two-year follow-up assessment, program effects remained strongest for male and African-American participants. Click here to view more detailed information on this program.

Adolescents Living Safely: AIDS Awareness, Attitudes and Actions for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Teens

Investigators: Sutherland Miller, Joyce Hunter, M.S.W., & Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus, Ph.D.

Designed to provide education, social and medical services, and peer support to gay,lesbian and bisexual youths between 14 and 19 years of age, this program combines case management, comprehensive health care, and risk assessment counseling with small group discussion sessions. During the group sessions, transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS are investigated through workshops in which youth create their own educational materials. Participants also receive behavioral and cognitive skills training for coping with high-risk situations. The case management and counseling components are designed to identify individual needs and provide youth with appropriate services (e.g., legal, medical, vocational). A field study of the intervention was initiated with 138 males at a community-based agency serving gay youth in New York City. The impact of the program was found to vary over time and across racial/ethnic groups. African-American and white teens showed a significant decrease in unprotected anal intercourse at the three-month follow-up assessment; at six months the decrease was recorded only among whites. On measures of unprotected oral intercourse, white and Hispanic youths engaged in fewer risk acts through the twelve-month assessment; for African-Americans, the decrease was maintained only until six months following the intervention. Click here to view more detailed information on this program.

Adolescents and Their Exposure to TV and Movie Sex, 1985

Investigators: Bradley S. Greenberg

The focus of the Adolescents and Their Exposure to TV and Movie Sex, 1985 study was to identify and examine the characteristics of adolescents which are associated with their media experience. Four groups of predictor variables were central to the project: demographic variables, family structure variables, self and social perceptions, and mediation variables. Data for this project were collected in the spring of 1985 through questionnaires. This study includes 376 variables for 1,462 adolescents aged 13-19. Students were asked to complete questionnaires that contained items pertaining to (1) media use patterns, (2) family characteristics, (3) mediation practices of parents, and (4) attitudes toward dating and sex roles. Following completion of the project, the 19 most frequently watched television programs (daytime and primetime) and 16 commercial movies were content analyzed to determine the adolescents' "diet" of media sex.

Alabama Adolescent Health Survey, 1993

Investigators: Steve Nagy

The 1993 Alabama Adolescent Health Survey was a modified version of the National Student Health Survey. Alabama Adolescents in grades 8 and 10 were surveyed in February and March. The survey included the following sections: demographic characteristics, exercise patterns, violence, sexual activity and abuse history, attitudes toward sexuality, attitudes toward education, time use patterns, health care history, mental health and suicide, assistance behavior, nutrition, substance use, and knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). This data set contains 115 variables and 6,268 cases.