Adolescent sexual minority males (ASMM) continue to account for a disproportionate number of HIV infections in the United States. Racial and ethnic minority populations are particularly affected. Increased HIV rates reflect sexual risk behaviors during early sexual experiences. Research suggests that initial sexual risk-taking occurs during adolescence among sexual minority males. Therefore, it is important for HIV prevention interventions to target adolescent sexual minority males. Targeting sexual minority males during adolescence will help them learn and establish healthy sexual behaviors early in their psychosexual development, which will have both immediate and long-term health benefits.To promote adolescent sexual minority males' critical examination of online media and decrease their sexual risk-taking, this study proposes an exploratory clinical trial to pilot test an online sexual health media literacy intervention that was developed during formative research for feasibility and acceptability. Overall, the proposed research has the potential to reach a wide audience of sexual minority males early in their sexual development, ultimately decreasing their sexual risk-taking and reducing the number of new HIV infections in this population.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
154
The online sexual health media literacy website includes content about (1) male anatomy; (2) HIV/STI prevention; (3) overall sexual health; and (4) sexually explicit online media (SEOM) literacy.
Available websites (such as by the CDC) that provide information about sexual health and preventing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV.
Boston University School of Public Health
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Study Feasibility Based on the Overall Recruitment Rate
The overall recruitment rate will be calculated by dividing the total number of participants enrolled (n=154) by the total number of eligible potential participants from the initial online screener (n=422).
Time frame: approximately 4.5 months
Study Feasibility Based on Banner ad Click Through Rate for All Participants Combined
The banner click through rate will be calculated as the proportion of banner ads that participants click each week and then averaged for an overall rate at the end of study completion.
Time frame: approximately 4.5 months
Feasibility of the Media Literacy Intervention Based on Time Spent on the Intervention
The time spent on each piece of intervention content will be determined from their online use.
Time frame: 90 minutes
Number and Percentage of Participants Who Complete All the Intervention Content
The online intervention will track what intervention content is viewed and the rate of participants who complete of all content will be calculated.
Time frame: 90 minutes
Mean Participant Satisfaction of the Intervention Content Areas Based on a 5 Star Rating System
Participants will be asked to rate each of the 9 content area using a 5-star rating system where 1 star is the lowest and 5 stars is the highest rating. A mean of all ratings will be calculated. The closer the mean is to 5.0, the higher the satisfaction with the content areas. Participants will also be given the option of providing written feedback on each piece of content as well.
Time frame: 90 minutes
Count and Percentage of Participants Who Are Retained Through All Assessments
The percentage of participants who completed all assessments divided by the number of enrolled participants
Time frame: approximately 4.5 months
Number of Sexual Partners
Participants will be asked information about the number of sex partners in the prior 3 months.
Time frame: Baseline, 3 months
Number of Condomless Sex Acts With Male Partners
Participants will be asked information about the number of condomless sex acts with male partners in the prior 3 months.
Time frame: Baseline, 3 months
Change in 6-item Condom Use and Attitudes Scale
Self-reported agreement with statements about condom use. Each item is scored 0-4 (0=strongly disagree; 4=strongly agree), yielding a total score of 0-24 with higher scores indicating more agreement that condom use interferes with sexual intimacy.
Time frame: Baseline, 3 weeks, 3 months
Change in 8-item Sexually Explicit Online Media (SEOM) Literacy Scale
Self-reported agreement with statements about SEOM. Each item is scored 0-4 (0=strongly disagree; 4=strongly agree), yielding a total score of 0-32 with higher scores indicating more agreement with less SEOM literacy.
Time frame: Baseline, 3 weeks, 3 months
Change in 4-item SEOM Knowledge Scale
Self-reported assessment of True/False statements about SEOM. Each item will be scored as 0-1 (0=incorrect, 1=correct), yielding a total score of 0-4 with higher scores indicating higher levels of knowledge.
Time frame: Baseline, 3 weeks, 3 months
Knowledge of HIV and STI Transmission and Prevention
A 52-item sexual health knowledge scale will be used to assess HIV/STI knowledge. The scale presents self-reported assessment of True/False statements about HIV and STI transmission and prevention. Each item will be scored as 0-1 (0=incorrect; 1=correct), yielding a total score of 0-52 with higher scores indicating higher levels of HIV/STI knowledge.
Time frame: Baseline, 3 weeks, 3 months
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