PRELIMINARY EFFICACY OF A COMPUTER-DELIVERED HIV PREVENTION INTERVENTION FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN TEENAGE FEMALES

This study translated SiHLE (Sisters Informing, Healing, Living, and Empowering), a 12-hour Centers for Disease Control and Prevention evidence-based group-level intervention for African American females 14-18 years of age, into a 2-hour computer-delivered individual-level intervention. A randomized controlled trial (n = 178) was conducted to examine the efficacy of the new Multimedia SiHLE intervention. Average condom-protected sex acts (proportion of vaginal sex acts with condoms, last 90 days) for sexually active participants receiving Multimedia SiHLE rose from M = 51% at baseline to M = 71% at 3-month follow-up (t = 2.06, p = .05); no statistically significant difference was found in the control group. Non-sexually active intervention group participants reported a significant increase in condom self-efficacy (t = 2.36, p = .02); no statistically significant difference was found in the control group. The study provides preliminary support for the efficacy of a computer-delivered adaptation of a proven HIV prevention program for African American teenage women. This is consistent with meta-analyses that have shown that computer-delivered interventions, which can often be disseminated at lower per-capita cost than human-delivered interventions, can influence HIV risk behaviors in positive fashion.