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Abstract #164709

Bahby Banks, MPH¹, Giselle Corbie-Smith, MD, MSc², Melvin R. Muhammad, AA³, Selena Youmans, BA¹, Arlinda Ellison, MS⁴, Aletha Akers, MD, MPH⁵, Adaora Adimora, MD, MPH⁶, Stacey W. Lloyd, BS¹, Dionne M. Smith, PhD⁷, Barbara Council⁸, and Stacey Henderson, MEd⁹. (1) Cecil B. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 725 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd., Campus Box 7590, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, 919-966-7513, bbanks@schsr.unc.edu, (2) Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 725 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd., Campus Box 7590, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7590, (3) Project Momentum, Inc., P.O. Box 4053, Rocky Mount, NC 27803, (4) Edgecombe County Health Department, 2909 Main St., Tarboro, NC 27886, (5) Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Magee-Womens Hospital, 300 Halket Street, PA, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, (6) Division of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 130 Mason Farm Rd, Campus Box 7030, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, (7) School of Public Health/ Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 4115-E McGavran Greenberg Hall, Campus Box 7440, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7440, (8) Community Enrichment Organization, P.O. Box 1475, Tarboro, NC 27886, (9) Educational, Research, & Technical Consultant, Project GRACE, P.O. Box 1, Rocky Mount, NC 27804

BACKGROUND: African American and rural adolescents are more likely to report HIV risk behaviors such as having multiple sexual partners and early initiation of sexual intercourse compared to other adolescents. Recent studies have shown that rural adolescents are particularly vulnerable to HIV and that prevention efforts need to target his population. Project GRACE uses a participatory approach to understand contextual factors affecting HIV risk among African Americans in two rural North Carolina counties. OBJECTIVE/PURPOSE: To explore rural African American male adolescents' perceptions of individual and interpersonal factors contributing to HIV risk among African Americans. METHODS: Participants were recruited using flyers, radio announcements, local youth organizations, and word-of-mouth. We conducted 4 focus groups with 20 rural African American males aged 14-22 in 2006. These groups were audio-taped, transcribed and entered into Altas.ti for analysis. Thematic coding was performed using grounded theory and 2 independent coders. RESULTS: Male adolescents in this study did not seem to personalize HIV risk in terms of preventative behaviors. Few reported regularly engaging in preventive behaviors. Participants noted the importance of peer and partner influences on sexual decision-making stating that female sex partners often request that condoms be removed during intercourse. Lack of disclosure among sexual partners about risk status or risk behaviors was cited as problematic. Many felt that HIV prevention messages should be targeted to groups other than themselves. CONCLUSION: We need more research to target peer influence and norms and the relationship to HIV behavior among rural male adolescents when creating HIV prevention programs.

Learning Objectives:

• • To communicate the importance of qualitative methodologies for gaining a deeper understanding of the contextual factors that influence rural African American male adolescents’ HIV risk behaviors.
• • To identify individual and interpersonal factors that influence rural African American adolescents’ HIV risk behaviors.
• • To discuss the implications of these findings for education and prevention efforts.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Adolescents

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.