National HIV Prevention Conference Atlanta, Georgia, USA — July 27 - 30, 2003

Natl HIV Prev Conf 2003 July 27-30:abstract no. M1-C1601
Miller, KS¹; Forehand, R²; Dittus, P³; Kotchick, B⁴; Wyckoff, S¹; Lassiter, S⁵; MacBeth, T⁵; Wallace, S¹; Long, N⁶; Kelly, A⁶; Austin, J⁵; Austin, B⁵; Heller, L⁴; Gourd, M⁴; Jackson, L⁵; Armistead, L⁵; Linder, G⁵; Ketchen, B5; Ball, J⁵; Clark, H⁵; Favors, M4; Hugley, J5; Johnson, J^6
1CDC, NCHSTP, Atlanta, GA; ²University of Vermont, Burlington, VT; ³CDC, NCCDPHP, Atlanta, GA; ⁴University of Georgia, Athens, GA; ⁵Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA; ⁶University of Arkansas, Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Little Rock, AR

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:: Youth need to receive HIV prevention information and skills prior to onset of HIV risk behaviors. Parents are in a unique position to provide early and continuous HIV prevention to youth.

METHODS: The Parents MatterQ! Study is a multi-site community-based US trial designed to test an intervention to promote effective parent-child communication about sexuality and sexual risk reduction in families with pre-teens 9-12 years of age. The series of presentations will outline the scientific, methodological, community and practical elements considered in the design, implementation and maintenance of a parenting intervention targeting African American families.

RESULTS: The first group of speakers will review research and theory pertaining to factors that protect young adolescents from increased risk for HIV infection. Special emphasis will be placed on factors found to impact adolescent sexual risk behaviors. These factors include:(1) timely, sensitive, comprehensive and supportive family communication about sexuality and sexual risk reduction; and (2) parenting skills such as monitoring and building positive parent-child relationships. A methodological overview of the Parents Matter! Study will also be discussed. The second group of speakers from the community and research team will discuss their roles and strategies for developing community involvement and support by: (1) meeting with key community leaders; (2) conducting focus groups in the recruitment communities; (3) hiring a full time community liaison at each site; and (4) convening community advisory boards at each site. All of the community collaborators provide input and advice concerning unique cultural and contextual factors which may have impacted the intervention and intervention delivery. The third group of speakers will delineate the content and cultural relevance of the Parents Matter! Study intervention and provide a brief demonstration of a mock intervention session. The fourth group of speakers will discuss strategies used in longitudinal family-based research studies and examine factors that may promote or impede retention. The discussant will review lessons learned in the conduct of family-based research.

CONCLUSIONS: HIV prevention efforts which embrace the cultural values and strengths of the African American community may enhance the efficacy of prevention interventions. Parents already play a critical role in the promotion of healthy behaviors in their children and have the opportunity to deliver age appropriate health messages to their children over time. Because it is critical to reach youth early with effective HIV prevention messages, intervening with parents may be one of the most viable, yet underutilized prevention methods available to reduce adolescent sexual risk behaviors.

030727
M1-C1601

Copyright notice: The National HIV Prevention Conference is collaborative effort by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a U.S. Government agency and other governmental and non-government organizations. All abstracts published in by the conference organizers are in the public domain and can be used without permission. Proper citation, however, is required.