This project is a randomized controlled evaluation of an AIDS intervention that has been designed to reduce HIV-related risk behaviors among young gay men in San Francisco. Previous research shows that these men have not yet been adequately reached by existing AIDS prevention efforts and that many of them are continuing to practice unprotected anal intercourse. The AIDS Risk Reduction Model (ARRM) has been used to guide the modification of this intervention and to formulate the research hypotheses regarding the interventions effects. The intervention has been modified (based on our preliminary surveys and focus groups conducted among young gay men) to make it age-sensitive and culturally-appropriate for ethnic minority gay men. The three-session intervention for young gay men will be implemented as part of the STOP AIDS Project, a community-based organization that has been widely credited for the impressive behavioral risk reductions observed among gay/bisexual men in San Francisco during the 1980's. The STOP AIDS model relies on volunteers and peer group facilitators recruited from the target population to conduct small groups discussions about AIDS, the gay community and what gay men can do to make the epidemic stop. The model already incorporates most of the central concepts of the ARRM. Young gay men have not yet been specifically targeted in previous STOP AIDS campaigns. One thousand young gay men will he randomly assigned to either the immediate intervention group or a six-month wait list control group. The groups will address awareness of health risks, self-efficacy, perceived peer group support and HIV status, while focusing on the special needs of young gay men. Volunteers from the target population will recruit other young gay men into the intervention and facilitate groups. All participants will be evaluated at baseline, post-intervention and at a twelve-month follow-up using telephone interviews. We will determine the impact of the intervention on sexual behavior and change in the ARRM variables for white, Hispanic, African-American and Asian young gay men separately. This project represents unique partnership between university-based researchers and a community-based organization, combining the skills and experiences necessary to implement and evaluate an urgently-needed AIDS prevention intervention.
| Ekstrand, M L; Stall, R D; Paul, J P et al. (1999) Gay men report high rates of unprotected anal sex with partners of unknown or discordant HIV status. AIDS 13:1525-33 |
| Komatsu, L K; Galotti, K M (1986) Children's reasoning about social, physical, and logical regularities: a look at two worlds. Child Dev 57:413-20 |
