Abstract
African American youth are affected disproportionately by sexually transmitted infections (STIs), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and teenage pregnancy when compared to other racial groups. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the To Help Young People Establish (2 HYPE) Abstinence Club, a behavioral intervention designed to promote delayed sexual activity among African American youth ages 12–18 in Atlanta, Georgia. The intervention included 20 h of curriculum and creative arts instruction. Pre- and post-intervention survey data collected from 2008–2010 were analyzed to determine the effectiveness of the intervention. Intervention (n = 651) and comparison (n = 112) groups were compared through analysis of variance and multivariate logistic regression models. There was a statistically significant increase in intervention youth who were thinking about being abstinent (p = 0.0005). Those who had not been engaged in sexual activity were two times more likely to plan abstinence compared to participants that had been previously sexually active previously (odds ratio 2.41; 95% confidence interval 1.62, 3.60). Significant results hold implications for subsequent community-based participatory research and practice that broadens the understanding of the relevance of marriage, as just one among other life success milestones that may hold more importance to African American youth in positioning the value of delayed and responsible sexual activity towards effective STIs, HIV/AIDS, and teen pregnancy risk reduction interventions.
Highlights
African American youth are affected disproportionately by sexually transmitted infections (STIs), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and teenage pregnancy when compared to other racial groups [1,2,3,4,5,6]
(100%) of the youth sampled identified themselves as Black/African American
Our final model revealed that at post-test, participants were more likely to plan to be abstinent compared to pre-test (odds ratio (OR) 1.41; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02, 1.95), males were two times more likely to plan abstinence compared to females, and participants who had not been engaged in sexual activity were two times more likely to plan abstinence compared to participants that had been sexually active previously
Summary
African American youth are affected disproportionately by sexually transmitted infections (STIs), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and teenage pregnancy when compared to other racial groups [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Despite teen pregnancy rates being at an all-time low in the United States, disproportionate rates still remain between African American, Hispanic, and White youth [1]. In 2014, the teen birth rate remained nearly twice as high for Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black teens compared with non-Hispanic White teens [1]. When compared to other races, African American youth account for a higher proportion of new HIV diagnoses, those living with HIV and those ever diagnosed with AIDS [2]. Public Health 2017, 14, 14; doi:10.3390/ijerph14010014 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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