The high rates of sexually transmitted disease (STD) among Black adolescents who reside in urban areas are a major public health problem. Accordingly, the broad objective of the proposed research is to identify effective interventions to dissuade inner-city Black adolescents from engaging in behaviors that increase their risk for STDs, including HIV, and to evaluate strategies for extending the effectiveness of such interventions. In the proposed research, 720 6th and 7th grade black adolescents from a low-income, inner-city community in Pennsylvania will be assigned randomly to 1 of 5 interventions: (a) 8-hour abstinence-only HIV sexual risk-reduction intervention that provides adolescents with the skills-to eliminate the risk of STD by abstaining from sexual intercourse until an appropriate time later in life, (b) 8--hour safer-sex only HIV sexual risk-reduction intervention that provides adolescents with the skills to use condoms to reduce their risk of STD, (c) 8-hour combined abstinence and safer sex HIV sexual risk-reduction intervention that provides skills to practice abstinence and to use condoms, (d) 12-hour combined abstinence and safer sex HIV sexual risk-reduction intervention that provides skills to practice abstinence and to use condoms, or (e) 8-hor general health promotion intervention that serves as a control and is focused, not on AIDS and STD, but on other diseases, including heart disease, hypertension, and cancer that are affected by behavior. Orthogonal to this, to evaluate a strategy to increase the longevity of intervention effects, half of the adolescents will receive an intervention maintenance program consisting of booster intervention 6 weeks and 3 months after their initial intervention, telephone consultation, and newsletters tailored to their intervention. The approach draws on social cognitive theory, the theory of reasoned action/theory of planned behavior, and the applicant's previous risk-reduction research with inner-city Black adolescents. The primary outcome measures are self-reported frequency of unprotected sexual intercourse, sexual intercourse, and condom use. Secondary outcomes include theoretically relevant variables hypothesized to mediate intervention effects, including intentions, beliefs, and self-efficacy. Researchers blind to the participants' intervention condition will collect the data pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, and at 3-,6-,12-, 18-, and 24-month follow-ups. The data will be analyzed with analyses of covariance, planned contras, multiple regression, and logistic regression. The results of this project will contribute to the development of effective HIV/STD risk-reduction programs for inner-city Black
| Zhang, Jingwen; Jemmott 3rd, John B; Jemmott, Loretta Sweet (2015) Mediation and moderation of an efficacious theory-based abstinence-only intervention for African American adolescents. Health Psychol 34:1175-84 |
| Jemmott 3rd, John B; Jemmott, Loretta S; Fong, Geoffrey T (2010) Efficacy of a theory-based abstinence-only intervention over 24 months: a randomized controlled trial with young adolescents. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 164:152-9 |
