The overarching goal of the proposed research is to yield a more precise, developmental understanding of drug-related HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk among African American female adolescents in the Southern United States. The proposed study will use an integrative data analysis (IDA) approach to pool and harmonize existing data from 4 completed HIV/STI prevention trials conducted among African American female adolescents. IDA is a framework for conducting simultaneous analysis of data pooled from multiple studies. The study team will use an accelerated longitudinal design, a method for linking multiple cohorts by age, to assess developmental relationships between drug use and HIV/STI risk across adolescence. Specifically, the proposed research will 1) create a pooled data set with harmonized variables and corresponding codebook combining data from 4 HIV/STI prevention intervention trials conducted among African American female adolescents aged 14-24 years (N=2,243). The study will then use the pooled, harmonized dataset to: 2) examine the influence of drug use behaviors on the natural course of sexual risk behavior (e.g., multiple sexual partners, vaginal sex without a condom) across adolescent development; 3) examine the influence of drug use behaviors on the natural course of STI acquisition across adolescent development and 4) evaluate the extent to which HIV/STI prevention interventions reduce drug use behaviors across adolescent development. Findings from this research will be useful for advancing interventions to reduce drug-related HIV/STI risk among African American adolescent females in the South.

Public Health Relevance

This study will use existing data to examine the impact of drug use on HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk across development and investigate the extent to which behavioral HIV/STI prevention interventions reduce drug use behaviors among African American female adolescents. Findings from this research will be useful for advancing interventions to reduce drug-related HIV/STI risk among African American female adolescents.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Small Research Grants (R03)
Project #
7R03DA039797-03
Application #
9320405
Study Section
Behavioral and Social Science Approaches to Preventing HIV/AIDS Study Section (BSPH)
Program Officer
Etz, Kathleen
Project Start
2015-09-01
Project End
2017-08-31
Budget Start
2017-03-21
Budget End
2017-08-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
$79,432
Indirect Cost
$26,477
Name
University of Georgia
Department
Public Health & Prev Medicine
Type
Schools of Public Health
DUNS #
004315578
City
Athens
State
GA
Country
United States
Zip Code
30602