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Abstract #155680
Audio (mp3) recordingJennifer Sarah Tiffany, PhD, Director, HIV/AIDS Education Project, Cornell University, Family Life Development Center, Beebe Hall, First Floor, Ithaca, NY 14853, 607-255-1942, jst5@cornell.edu, Thomas Tallon, Director, Adolescent HIV Prevention Services, New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute, Corning Tower, Room 384, Albany, NY 12237, Maricela Brea, Project Reach Youth, Inc., 456 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215, John J. Eckenrode, PhD, Director, Family Life Development Center, Cornell University, Beebe Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, Ellen Kate Friedrichs, HIV Program Coordinator, Citizens Advice Bureau - ADP, 1130 Grand Concourse, 1st Floor, Bronx, NY 10456, Candia Richards-Clarke, Bronx AIDS Services, Inc., 1910 Arthur Avenue, 6th floor, Bronx, NY 10457, Danny Stewart, MA, MSW, Director, HIV/AIDS Services, Streetwork Project, Safe Horizon, 545 8th Avenue, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10018, and Rachael M. Peters, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, Allan Rosenfield Building, New York, NY 10032.
Background: HIV prevention programs often use participatory strategies, including active engagement of youth in decision-making. Measures of active program participation are generally used to assess/evaluate program processes rather than specific health-related impacts. Our study examined program participation in relation to HIV risk reduction practices. Methods: We developed an eight item scale regarding young people's influence/voice within programs and program-generated opportunities for personal development which was piloted among youth involved in four state-funded adolescent HIV prevention programs. We evaluated the scale using confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis (Cronbach's alpha was .86 for the overall sample, and ranged between .73 and .91 when sub-samples from the four programs were analyzed separately), and assessment of construct validity (inter-item correlations: .34 - .73; item-total correlations: .54 - .69). The scale was well received and viewed as valid by youth involved in the study. Results: Active program participation was strongly correlated with reported sexual risk reduction practices during the past year (r = .34, p = .001) and during the past three months (r = .30, p = .004), and also correlated with a summary scale of sexual and drug related risk reduction practices (r = .24, p = .031). Conclusions: Higher levels of participation correlated with less risk taking. The scale measuring active participation was reliable and easily administered. Longitudinal study is needed to demonstrate causal relationships between active participation and HIV risk reduction. However, the findings suggest that highly participatory programs hold potential to enhance young people's capacity to practice safer behaviors.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify the rationale for including items on voice, choice, decision-making and opportunities for personal development in a scale measuring the quality of youth participation in HIV prevention programs;
- Discuss why participation should be assessed in relation to outcome measures such as HIV risk reduction practices;
- Discuss the procedures used (including youth involvement in data interpretation) for developing and refining the participation scale.
Keywords: Adolescents, HIV/AIDS
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.
The 135th APHA Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 3-7, 2007) of APHA