PREVENTING HIV INFECTION WITH COMPUTER-ASSISTED METHODS

THIS PHASE I SBIR APPLICATION PROPOSES A STUDY WITH TWO AIMS. FIRST, THE STUDY WILL ADAPT AIDS PREVENTION COMPONENTS TO MICROCOMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR HISPANIC ADOLESCENTS. SECOND, THE STUDY WILL PILOT TEST THE FEASIBILITY OF DELIVERING MICROCOMPUTER-BASED AIDS PREVENTION SOFTWARE WITH HISPANIC ADOLESCENTS. BY ACCOMPLISHING THESE TWO AIMS, THE PHASE I STUDY WILL INCORPORATE THE ADVANTAGES OF MICROCOMPUTER LEARNING SYSTEMS INTO AIDS PREVENTIVE INTERVENTION FOR AN UNDERRESEARCHED AND AT RISK GROUP OF AMERICAN YOUTH. FORMATIVE EVALUATION OF INTERVENTION COMPONENTS WILL GENERATE ORIGINAL DATA ON THE APPLICABILITY, EFFICIENCY, AND ACCEPTANCE OF COMPUTER-BASED TECHNOLOGIES WITH HISPANIC ADOLESCENTS. IN SO DOING, THE STUDY WILL USE QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENTS TO IDENTIFY ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF COMPUTER-BASED INTERVENTIONS. STUDY FINDINGS WILL THEREBY GUIDE IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPUTER-BASED INTERVENTION METHODS FOR PREVENTING AIDS WITH HISPANIC ADOLESCENTS. SUBSEQUENTLY, THESE IMPROVED METHODS CAN THEN BE SUBJECTED TO CONTROLLED EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH IN A PHASE II SBIR PROJECT. COMPUTER-BASED INTERVENTION FOR HIV INFECTION RISKREDUCTION AMONG HISPANIC ADOLESCENTS CAN THEN BE DISSEMINATED IN A PHASE III SBIR. BY LAUNCHING THIS PROCESS, THE PHASE I STUDY IS A FIRST STEP TOWARD COMPUTER-BASED INTERVENTIONS FOR PREVENTING AIDS IN AN IMPORTANT AMERICAN POPULATION.