Connecting Youth and Young Adults to Optimize ART Adherence: YouTHrive Efficacy Trial

Summary

YouTHrive (YT) is a two-arm randomized control trial (RCT) to test the efficacy of an adapted version of the Thrive With Me (TWM) intervention for youth living with HIV (YLWH). In the RCT, intervention participants will have access to the full YouTHrive (YT) website- a mobile-enhanced private social networking website aimed at improving medication adherence for YLWH. The investigators will enroll up to 60 YLWH for formative work on YT, and 300 YLWH (15-24 years old) of all genders living in eight cities and randomize them to either the intervention condition or control condition. Assessments will be collected at baseline and 5-month follow-up.

Conditions

• HIV Infections

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

YouTHrive

The YT website is a mobile-enhanced private social networking website. Participants on the site are anonymous and choose alternate usernames and personalized profile features for a new online identity within YT. The investigators designed YouTHrive to encourage social support, reduce isolation, improve HIV medication adherence, and promote general well being. The study involves rolling recruitment so that new members are continuously entering the intervention. Participants use YT for five months before "graduating" from the program. The core components of YT are: 1) peer-to-peer interaction in a shared feed; 2) daily monitoring of HIV medication adherence and real-time mood; 3) daily mixed-media content with strategies to improve medication adherence' and 4) goal setting and monitoring.

BEHAVIORAL

Information-only Control

Participants will receive 21 emails, once per week, for five months. The emails will include static informational content relatable to YLWH, but informational content will not be focused on ART medication adherence.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of North Carolina

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Michigan

  collaborator OTHER

• Emory University

  collaborator OTHER

• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

  collaborator OTHER

• Baylor College of Medicine

  collaborator OTHER

• Cook County Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Montefiore Medical Center

  collaborator OTHER

• University of South Florida

  collaborator OTHER

• Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

  collaborator NIH

• University of Minnesota

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Lisa Hightow-Weidman, PhD · University of North Carolina

• Patrick S Sullivan, PhD · Emory University

• Keith J. Horvath, PhD · University of Minnesota

• K. Rivet Amico, PhD · University of Michigan

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

15 Years

Max Age

24 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-05-16

Primary Completion

2022-05-31

Completion

2022-05-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations