| 1998 |
Chernoff, Robert A |
R03Activity Code Description:
To provide research support specifically limited in time and amount for studies in categorical program areas. Small grants provide flexibility for initiating studies which are generally for preliminary short-term projects and are non-renewable. |
Normative Feedback as An Aids Prevention Strategy @ University of Southern California
DESCRIPTION (Applicant's Abstract): The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of a self-administered, paper-and-pencil AIDS prevention intervention that uses normative feedback, motivational techniques, and goal selection to increase AIDS preventive cognitions and behavior among sexually active, nonmonogamous college students. In the experimental intervention developed for this study, subjects will be presented with normative information about the sexual behavior of their fellow students. Subjects will be asked to compare their own behavior to that of their peers and to assess how concerned they are about the riskiness of their current behavior. Subjects will then be asked to consider committing to specific risk-reduction goals over a 30-day period. The intervention will be tested in a randomized, between-subjects design using 100 subjects. To participate in the study, subjects will be required to have been sexually active with at least two different sexual partners during the previous 12-month period. The efficacy of the experimental intervention will be compared against a control condition in which a standard informational prevention message (i.e., an AIDS information pamphlet) is presented. The effect of the experimental intervention will be measured by examining posttreatment cognitive and behavioral change. Cognitive change will be measured using the Articulated Thoughts During Simulated Situation paradigm, whereby subjects listen to an audiotaped situation in which they imagine themselves meeting someone at a party, dating, and becoming sexually involved. At various points, they will be asked to verbalize their thoughts aloud into a tape-recorder in response to the pretend scenario. Verbalized thoughts will be coded and analyzed. In responding to the imaginary situation, subjects in the experimental condition are expected to express significantly more prevention-oriented and fewer risk-oriented cognitions following the intervention in comparison with the control group. Behavioral change will be measured by comparing pretreatment and posttreatment self-reported questionnaire data. The study is intended to investigate whether normative feedback, motivational techniques, and goal selection strategies that have been shown to be effective in reducing alcohol, tobacco, and drug use can also be effective in reducing risky sexual behavior. Subjects in the experimental group, in comparison with the control group, are expected to report significant increases in AIDS preventive behaviors and decreases in risk behaviors following the intervention.
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