Reality Check: An HIV Risk Reduction Serial Drama

Summary

African Americans have considerably higher rates of HIV infections than do White, Hispanic, Asian, and Native Americans. African Americans accounted for 59% of all diagnoses of HIV infection among youth (13-24 years of age) in the United States. Young African Americans also have disproportionately high rates of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Therefore, the broad, long-term objective of this research is to identify interventions to reduce the risk of HIV and other STIs among young African Americans. Entertainment-education refers to narrative interventions designed to change behavior while providing entertainment. Several studies have evaluated the impact of media content on HIV risk behavior. One study found that exposure to an entertainment-education based HIV testing campaign was associated with increases in HIV testing among sexually active teens 12 months post exposure. Similarly, a radio soap opera called "Twende na Wakati" became the most popular television show in Tanzania and was highly successful in reducing the number of sexual partners and increasing condom use. A narrative video intervention study in STI clinic waiting rooms in three U.S. cities found a significant reduction in STI re-infection among patients visiting during months when the video was shown compared with patients visiting during months when it was not shown. Although these studies show that entertainment-education can be a promising medium for behavior change, none of them evaluated the efficacy of a tailored online entertainment-education intervention specifically designed for African American youth. To address this gap in the literature, this study tested the preliminary efficacy of an innovative, theory-based HIV risk-reduction serial drama intervention, Reality Check, specifically tailored to young African Americans. We used a randomized controlled trial, allocating African Americans 18 to 24 years of age to Reality Check, or an attention-control intervention promoting physical activity. Each intervention was delivered as a series of videos streamed online and accessible via any Internet-capable device. Participants completed surveys online at baseline, immediately post intervention, and 3 months post intervention. We hypothesized that, Reality Check would reduce condomless sex during the 3-month post-intervention period compared with the attention-matched control group, adjusting for baseline of the criterion.

Conditions

• HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Reality Check

BEHAVIORAL

Physical Activity Attention Control

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

  collaborator NIH

• University of Pennsylvania

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• John B Jemmott III, PhD · University of Pennsylvania

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

24 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2016-09-01

Primary Completion

2017-03-31

Completion

2017-03-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations