Web-Based Middle School HIV Prevention Curricula: Aspiring for Reach and Impact

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a web-based HIV, sexually transmitted infection (STI), and pregnancy prevention curriculum as a stand alone intervention for 8th grade students in a large urban school district. Twenty middle schools were invited to participate in the study. From those schools, we randomized 10 to the intervention group and 10 to the comparison condition, and will then recruit a cohort of 2,000 8th grade students into the study. Parental permission and youth assent will be required prior to participation. Students will be asked to complete a baseline and 12-month follow-up survey. The web-based curriculum will be adapted from the computer-based component of an existing successful prevention program, It's Your Game…Keep it Real, (IYG) but will be enhanced to include critical elements from the IYG classroom component. The web-based intervention will consist of 13 lessons and will tailor information to the individual's gender and to his/her intentions or behaviors related to sexual risk-taking. The program will address peer norms, attitudes, self-efficacy, refusal skills, and communication skills related to healthy relationships, dating, and sexual risk-taking behavior. The primary hypothesis to be tested is: (1) students who receive the web-based curriculum will delay sexual activity relative to those who receive standard care. The major dependent variable is the proportion of students initiating sexual activity (vaginal, oral, or anal sex). Secondary hypotheses will examine the effect of the web-based curriculum on specific types of sex (e.g., vaginal, oral, anal) and psychosocial variables such as students' intentions, knowledge, self-efficacy, attitudes, and perceived norms related to sexual risk-taking behavior. Secondary hypotheses will also examine the effect of the intervention on the proportion of students who are sexually active, number of times students engage in unprotected sexual intercourse, and students' number of sexual partners.