Reducing the risk of HIV infection in African American adolescents in the Midwest: a look at self-efficacy and condom use in a adolescent population
Human immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a major health concern in the United States, as well as globally (CDC, 2001). Certain ethnic groups in the United States have more reported HIV/AIDS cases then others. In particular, African American adults and adolescents are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. For that reason, there is a great need for prevention/intervention work within this population to decrease the growing number of HIV/AIDS cases. One prevention effort is the Youth Empowerment Project, which is an HIV/AIDS prevention program targeted to reduce risky behaviors in a Midwest African American adolescent population. A total of three hundred and ninety-four youth between the ages of 12-17 participated in this program over the course of three years. Participants were exposed to safer sex skill building, condom use negotiation with a partner, selfefficacy skills, and general refusal skills. This study examined the differences in self-efficacy of the participants and investigated the relationships found between self-efficacy and reported condom use. Participants were randomly assigned to either an HIV/AIDS safer sex class or a health promotion class. No significant differences in self-efficacy were found between the two groups. However, female participants were found to have higher self-efficacy than male participants. Reported sexual activity was low for this population, so no significant findings were discovered between selfefficacy and condom use.
AIDS (Disease), HIV infections--Prevention, African Americans, Condom use--United States., Public health, Immune deficiency
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