Reducing HIV Risk Among Mexican Youth

Sexually transmitted HIV infection among adolescents is a growing and significant problem in Mexico. Given the high mortality rate associated with AIDS, the lack of available treatment, and the social stigma associated with the disease, prevention is the key to reducing the threat of AIDS among this important subgroup in Mexico. The study has four specific aims including 1) to determine whether the HIV risk-reduction intervention causes a greater increase in adolescents' intentions to abstain from intercourse and/or avoid unprotected intercourse at post-intervention and decreased self-reported intercourse and unprotected intercourse at 3, 6, 12, and 48 month follow-ups, compared with the general health promotion control intervention; 2) to determine whether the effects of the intervention are moderated by individual, microsystem, and macrosystem variables; 3) to identify theory-based variables that mediate effects of the HIV intervention on adolescents' self-reported behavior; and 4) to determine whether the HIV risk-reduction intervention causes a greater increase in parents' comfort with, and quantity of communication (general and HIV specific) with adolescents at post-intervention, 3, 6, 12, and 48 month follow-up compared with the general health promotion control intervention.