Blocking the Benefit of Group-Based HIV-Prevention Efforts in At-Risk African-American Adolescents: The Problem of HIV-Related Stigma

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: David H. Barker, Rhode Island Hospital; Rebecca R. Swenson, Rhode Island Hospital; Larry K. Brown, Rhode Island Hospital; Bonita F. Stanton, Wayne State University; Peter A. Vanable, Syracuse University; Michael P. Carey, Brown University; Robert F. Valois, University of South Carolina; Ralph Joseph Diclemente, Emory University; Laura F. Salazar, Emory University; Daniel Romer, University of Pennsylvania
• Language: English
• Date: 2012-04-01
• Publisher: Springer Verlag (Germany)
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: ©2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10461-011-0101-1
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: AIDS and Behavior
• ISSN: 1090-7165
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 3
• Start Page: 571
• End Page: 577
• Grant/Funding Information: This research was supported by National Institutes of Health grant UO1 MH066785, a collaborative project awarded to participating sites: Rhode Island Hospital, Emory University, Syracuse University, University of South Carolina, and University of Pennsylvania and by a National Institutes of Mental Health Program in Child/Adolescent Biobehavioral HIV Research Training at Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University (T32-MH-07878, PI: L. Brown).
• Keywords: RISK; HEALTH; Stigma; PROGRAM; HIV/AIDS STIGMA; Prevention; INTERVENTIONS; Knowledge; HIV; AFRICAN-AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS; Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Adolescence; Social Sciences; SEXUAL-BEHAVIOR; Biomedical Social Sciences; SOUTH-AFRICA; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Social Sciences, Biomedical; AIDS EDUCATION; KNOWLEDGE
• Research Categories: Education, Social Sciences; Psychology, Behavioral; Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

HIV-related stigma has been shown to impede HIV-antibody testing and safer sexual practices in adults. Less is known about its effects on prevention programs among at-risk youth. This study examined the longitudinal relationships between HIV-stigma and HIV-knowledge following completion of a validated group-based intervention. Data were provided by 1,654 African-American adolescents who participated in a large multi-city prevention trial (Project iMPACCS). Participants were randomly assigned to an empirically-validated skill-based intervention or a general health promotion control group. Both stigma and knowledge were assessed at baseline and post-intervention. Results suggested that adolescents participating in the intervention showed improvements in knowledge and decreases in stigma when compared to controls. Improvements in stigma appeared to be partly driven by improvements in knowledge. Higher baseline stigma was shown to reduce gains in knowledge in both the treatment and control groups. Results suggest that HIV-stigma can interfere with how youth identify with and internalize messages from group-based prevention trials.