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Purpose

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.

Condition

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Between 14 Years and 17 Years
Eligible Genders
Male
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Inclusion Criteria

  • Self-identify as sexual minority - Have intentionally accessed SEOM - Have a valid personal email address - Be a US resident - Be new to the study

Exclusion Criteria

  • Are unwilling or unable to provide informed assent - Are unable to understand and read English - Do not have the appropriate device and necessary software to experience all the intervention content

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention Model
Parallel Assignment
Primary Purpose
Other
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
Young Men & Media Program group 		Participants randomized to the Young Men and Media Program group will have access to the online sexual health media literacy materials. They will also complete three assessments at baseline, post-intervention, and a 3 month follow-up.
  • Behavioral: Young Men & Media Program
    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.
Active Comparator
Control group 		Participants randomized to the control group will have access to available websites (such as by the CDC) that provide information about sexual health and preventing sexually transmitted infections including HIV. They will complete three assessments at baseline, post-intervention, and a 3 month follow-up.
  • Behavioral: Available websites on safe sex and preventing STIs
    Available websites (such as by the CDC) that provide information about sexual health and preventing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV.

More Details

Status
Completed
Sponsor
Boston University

Study Contact

Notice

Study information shown on this site is derived from ClinicalTrials.gov (a public registry operated by the National Institutes of Health). The listing of studies provided is not certain to be all studies for which you might be eligible. Furthermore, study eligibility requirements can be difficult to understand and may change over time, so it is wise to speak with your medical care provider and individual research study teams when making decisions related to participation.