Effects of a Culturally Adapted HIV Prevention Intervention in Haitian Youth

Abstract

This study assessed the impact of an 8-week community-based translation of Becoming a Responsible Teen (BART), an HIV intervention that has been shown to be effective in other at-risk adolescent populations. A sample of Haitian adolescents living in the Miami area was randomized to a general health education control group (N = 101) or the BART intervention (N = 145), which is based on the information-motivation-behavior (IMB) model. Improvement in various IMB components (i.e., attitudinal, knowledge, and behavioral skills variables) related to condom use was assessed 1 month after the intervention. Longitudinal structural equation models using a mixture of latent and measured multi-item variables indicated that the intervention significantly and positively impacted all IMB variables tested in the model. These BART intervention-linked changes reflected greater knowledge, greater intentions to use condoms in the future, higher safer sex self-efficacy, an improved attitude about condom use and an enhanced ability to use condoms after the 8-week intervention.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr. Robert Malow, Florida International University Biscayne Bay Campus, AC1-260, 3000 N.E. 151 st Street, North Miami, Florida 33181-3600. E-mail: E-mail: RMalow@bellsouth.net, Phone: 305.919.4200. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. et al., 1993). In addition, a larger proportion of minority youth begin engaging in sexual activity earlier than the majority of adolescents, again placing them at heightened risk for contracting the disease. Recent statistics reveal that 32% of African American and 13% of Hispanic males engage in sexual activity before the age of 13, compared to only 7% among Caucasian males (CDC, 2005). This early initiation of sexual activity occurs at a developmental stage when adolescents may not yet have acquired the necessary skills or knowledge to apply safe sex practices (DiClemente, 1991). In fact, one of the most basic neuroanatomic realities is that the human brain does not reach levels of adult complexity, as measured by the Gyrification Index (method for measuring the degree of gyri or convolutions of the brain's surface, the prevalence of which distinguishes Homo sapiens), until an individual's early twenties (Andreasen, 2001). Consequently, adolescent HIV prevention interventions must strive to include developmentally appropriate components in addition to, or in place of, frameworks shown to be successful with adult populations (Pedlow & Carey, 2003). The intervention trial with this special population was appro...

Applying the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model in Medication Adherence Among Thai Youth Living with HIV: A Qualitative Study

“…[13][14][15][16] An IMB model of ART adherence was developed and evaluated among persons living with HIV/AIDS in resource-rich settings. 12,[17][18][19][20] To date, there is only one study that addressed the IMB model for ART adherence in a resource-limited setting; the application of the model was found to be feasible and predictive of ART adherence behaviors in rural South Africa.…”

Social Psychology and the Fight Against AIDS

“…IMB model-based HIV/AIDS prevention interventions have had a significant impact in the promotion of safer sexual behavior in a wide variety of populations, including STI clinic patients (Abdala et al, 2013;Kalichman, Cherry, & Browne-Sperling, 1999;Kalichman, Williams, & Nachimson, 1999;Simbayi et al, 2004), low-income women Belcher et al, 1998;Carey et al, 2000;Carey, Maisto, et al, 1997), IDUs (Avants, Margolin, Usubiaga, & Doebrick, 2004;Calsyn et al, 2009;Copenhaver, Lee, Margolin, Bruce, & Altice, 2011;Margolin, Avants, Warburton, Hawkins, & Shi, 2003), military personnel (Bing et al, 2008;Boyer et al, 2001Boyer et al, , 2005, MSM (Bowen, Williams, Daniel, & Clayton, 2008;Mimiaga et al, 2012;Safren et al, 2011), individuals with mental illness (Carey et al, 2004;Otto-Salaj, Kelly, Stevenson, Hoffmann, & Kalichman, 2001;Weinhardt, Carey, Carey, & Verdecias, 1998), adolescent high school and older adolescent university students (Cohen, 2000;Fisher, Fisher, Bryan, & Misovich, 2002;Fisher, Fisher, Misovich, Kimble, & Malloy, 1996;Jaworski & Carey, 2001;Kiene & Barta, 2006;Lemieux, Fisher, & Pratto, 2008;Malow et al, 2009;Metzler, Biglan, Noell, Ary, & Ochs, 2000;Morrison-Beedy et al, 2013;Peeler, 2000;Rosengard, 1992;Rotheram-Borus, Gwadz, Fernandez, & Srinivasan, 1998;…”

Reaching Haitian Americans Living With HIV/AIDS: Met and Unmet Health Care Needs

“…This example illustrates how health care providers can effectively engage the Haitian American community in designing culturally appropriate education and prevention services. In a study of Haitian American teenagers in Miami-Dade County, researchers compared the effectiveness of a culturally adapted cognitive-behavioral HIV risk reduction intervention (BART-Being a Responsible Teen) to a risk reduction intervention that was not culturally adapted (Malow et al, 2009). The researchers found that teens that completed the culturally adapted BART intervention had greater knowledge about HIV, greater intentions to use condoms in the future, higher safe-sex self-efficacy, and significant improvement in the ability to use a condom.…”