Washington D.C., USA, 22-27 July 2012www.aids2012.org
Active program participation and HIV risk reduction among urban youth:
Findings from the Complementary Strengths Research Partnership
Jennifer Sarah Tiffany, John Eckenrode, Deinera Exner-Cortens, Sara Birnel-Henderson
July 25, 2012 - Session WEAE04: Young People, HIV and Sexual and Reproductive
Health Services
Washington D.C., USA, 22-27 July 2012www.aids2012.org
This project was supported in part by award #R21NR009764 from the NIH/National Institute of
Nursing Research and by USDA grant #NYC-323442-0219950. The content of this report is solely the
responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the
National Institute of Nursing Research, the National Institutes of Health, or the USDA.
We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
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Overview of today’s talkComplementary Strengths Research Partnership
Background and historyMethodsResultsImplicationsLimitationsNext steps
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Background and historyWe started with a question: Does active participation boost HIV risk reduction among youth?
Partnership included Cornell University, New York State Department of Health, community programs, and New York City Department of Youth and Community Development
Steering committee launched pilot study (98 youth in 2006) and exploratory observational study (329 youth ages 13 to 18 in 2008-2009)
Aim: To develop measures, assess links between youth participation and sexual health promotion
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Pilot project 2005-2006
Exploratory study2007-2010
Developed new measures for
participation and HIV risk reduction
Interviews : What helps/hinders participation?
Intervention to boost the quality of youth engagement
in ASH EBPs
Designing N
ow
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MethodsMixed-method Community-Based Participatory Research project; mostly statistical analyses
Youth and program staff worked with university to develop and refine surveys, sustain participation
329 ethnically diverse participants from 18 after-school programs in New York City; 62% female, 37% male, 1% transgender; 74% heterosexual, 26% LGBTQ; 91% retention at waves 2 and 3
Youth-Adult “data dialogues” to translate results
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Washington D.C., USA, 22-27 July 2012www.aids2012.org
Results OverviewExploratory and confirmatory factor analysis validated our 20 item youth program participation scale (the “TEPPS”)Candidate measure for sexual health/risk reduction Significant positive associations: program participation, social connectedness, and HIV risk reduction scoresYouth in programs with participation scores that were average or high were more likely to sustain risk reduction practices (setting impact on individuals)Longer program involvement increased the impact of participation on risk reduction practices
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Result #1Validated 20 item youth program participation scale5-point scale (1=not at all true for me, 5=very true for me) Scores are created by summing across the 20 items; higher scores indicate greater program participation Cronbach’s alpha at baseline was 0.87Example items include “I help decide things like program activities or rules” and “I think that participating in the program will help me to get a job.”4 subscales: Personal Development, Voice/Influence, Safety/Support, Community Engagement
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Result #2
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Significant relationships among program participation, risk reduction & social connectedness
Result #3
Risk Reduction
Participation Family Connectedness
School Connectedness
Age Ethnic Identity (MEIM)
Hours per week
Duration of involvement
Risk reduction 1.00
Program Participation
.257** 1.00
Family connectedness
.140* .294** 1.00
School connectedness
.171** .163** .335** 1.00
Age .020 .061 -.172** -.036 1.00
Ethnic Identity .232** .349** .231** .149** .044 1.00
Hours per week .020 .198** .004 -.046 -.089 .060 1.00
Duration of involvement
.104^ .047 -.003 -.047 .127* .121* .149* 1.00
**p<.01 *p<.05 ^p<.10 Two tailed significance tests. Effective sample size ranged from 302 to 329
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Youth in programs with participation scores that were average or high were more likely to sustain risk
reduction practices (setting impact on individuals)
Result #4
b=-0.32, p=.005
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Longer program involvement increased the impact of participation on risk reduction practices
Result #5
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ImplicationsConsider contexts as well as individual behaviors
Setting-level factors influence risk reduction among adolescents
Highly engaged program participation may help sustain adolescent risk reduction practices over time
Quality of youth program participation experiences can be reliably and easily measured using new 20-item scale
Design and test interventions that increase program-level engagement (intervene with settings, not just individuals)
After-school/out of school time programs one key setting
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LimitationsObservational study Only 3 waves of survey data Program variability and few sites (18)
Next StepsIntervention study with larger number of sites and more data wavesSetting-level intervention
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Thanks to Complementary Strengths research partners and participants:
Hetrick Martin InstituteLutheran Family Health Care/Project Reach YouthCitizens Advice Bureau/BronxWorksBronx AIDS ServicesMosholu Montefiore Community CenterThe Educational Alliance/EdgiesThe Children’s Aid Society/Frederick Douglass Community CenterLegal Outreach Inc.NYS Department of Health AIDS Institute Adolescent HIV Prevention Services UnitNYC Department of Youth and Community Development
Washington D.C., USA, 22-27 July 2012www.aids2012.org
For more information:Jennifer Tiffany
Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Researchwww.bctr.cornell.edu
Tiffany, J., Exner, D., and Eckenrode, J. (2012). A new measure for youth program participation. Journal of Community Psychology. 40(3), pp. 277-291. doi: 10.1002/jcop20508
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