Beyond the "birds and the bees": gender differences in sex-related communication among urban African-American adolescents.

The current study examined gender differences in communication about sex-related topics in a community sample of urban, African-American mothers and adolescents living in impoverished neighborhoods with high HIV rates. One hundred and sixty-two mother-adolescent dyads completed self-report measures of sex-related communication. Youth also reported on their sexual risk.

Adapting and disseminating a community-collaborative, evidence-based HIV/AIDS prevention programme: Lessons from the history of CHAMP.

In recent years, calls for the scaling-up, or more broad dissemination of evidence-based HIV prevention programmes, have increased. This paper responds to the call for increasing applicable knowledge about programme dissemination by reviewing the history of a major evidence-based human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention and mental health promotion programme that has been adapted successfully and pilot-tested across four settings - including two major cities, as well as in the United States, Trinidad and Tobago and South Africa - to date. This programme, entitled CHAMP (the Collaborative HIV Prevention & Adolescent Mental Health Project), is distinctive primarily for its emphasis on community collaboration and power-sharing, and also its incorporation of individual, family and community-level interventions.

Correlates of Participation in a Family-Based HIV Prevention Program: Exploring African-American Women's Motivations and Understanding of the Program.

This study examines the relationship between contextual factors and attendance in a family-based HIV prevention program for low-income, urban, African-American women and their children. Participants' motivations to become involved, their concerns about discussing sex-related issues with their children, recruiters' perceptions of respondents' understanding of the program, and environmental stressors were examined. Participants' level of motivation and recruiters' success in improving respondents' understanding of the program were significant correlates of attendance.

Urban African American Pre-Adolescent Social Problem Solving Skills: Family Influences and Association with Exposure to Situations of Sexual Possibility.

The results of two studies focusing on the social problem solving skills of African American preadolescent youth are detailed. In the first study data from a sample of 150 African American children, ages 9 to 11 years, was used to examine the association between type of youth social problem solving approaches applied to hypothetical risk situations and time spent in unsupervised peer situations of sexual possibility. Findings revealed that children with more exposure to sexual possibility situations generated a wider range of social problem solving strategies, but these approaches tended to be unrealistic and ambiguous.

Family-Based HIV Preventive Intervention: Child Level Results from the CHAMP Family Program.

Social indicators suggest that African American adolescents are in the highest risk categories of those contracting HIV/AIDS (CDC, 2001). The dramatic impact of HIV/AIDS on urban African American youth have influenced community leaders and policy makers to place high priority on programming that can prevent youth's exposure to the virus (Pequegnat & Szapocznik, 2000). Program developers are encouraged to design programs that reflect the developmental ecology of urban youth (Tolan, Gorman-Smith, & Henry, 2003).

Overview of Community Collaborative Partnerships and Empirical Findings: The Foundation for Youth HIV Prevention.

This article presents a summary history and context of the CHAMP Family Program. Primarily, CHAMP was created and developed in response to rising levels of HIV and AIDS in inner-city communities of color. Concurrently, major changes in the field of psychology were underway during the late 1980s and early 1990s including new perceptions of the effect of culture and context on development; the birth of development psychopathology as a field; and increasing interest in-and recognition of-adolescent psychology.

Motivators and Barriers to Participation of Ethnic Minority Families in a Family-Based HIV Prevention Program.

Involving low-income, ethnic minority families in lengthy HIV prevention programs can be challenging. Understanding the motivators and barriers to involvement may help researchers and practitioners design programs that can be used by populations most at risk for HIV exposure. The present study discusses motivators and barriers to involvement in the Collaborative HIV Prevention and Adolescent Mental Health Project (CHAMP), using data from a sample of 118 families that participated at varying levels in the twelve sessions of the program.

Creating Mechanisms for Meaningful Collaboration Between Members of Urban Communities and University-Based HIV Prevention Researchers.

This article provides a description of a Community/University Collaborative Board, a formalized partnership between representatives from an inner-city community and university-based researchers. This Collaborative Board oversees a number of research projects focused on designing, delivering and testing family-based HIV prevention and mental health focused programs to elementary and junior high school age youth and their families. The Collaborative Board consists of urban parents, school staff members, representatives from community-based agencies and university-based researchers.

Collaborating with an urban community to develop an HIV and AIDS prevention program for black youth and families.

This article describes a collaboration between academic researchers and residents of a low-income, inner-city community to develop and deliver an HIV and AIDS prevention program for Black youth. The Chicago HIV Prevention and Adolescent Mental Health Project (CHAMP) Program was developed and implemented to decrease HIV and AIDS risk exposure among youth living in a community that has been dramatically affected by HIV and AIDS. The article outlines (a) phases in the collaborative process to develop the program; (b) strategies used to embed contextually relevant themes and activities that address individual and systemic factors influencing HIV and AIDS risk; (c) a process model, based on the CHAMP experience, that can be replicated to develop programs for other youth problems; (d) descriptions of the CHAMP preadolescent and early adolescent curricula; (e) and how university- and community-based facilitators were trained to collaborate as a team to implement the CHAMP Program.

Family-level impact of the CHAMP Family Program: a community collaborative effort to support urban families and reduce youth HIV risk exposure.

This article presents family-level results from an ongoing study examining the impact of the CHAMP (Chicago HIV prevention and Adolescent Mental health Project) Family Program, a family-based HIV preventative intervention meant to reduce the amount of time spent in situations of sexual possibility and delay initiation of sexual activity for urban youth in the 4th and 5th grades living in neighborhoods with high rates of HIV infection. The CHAMP Family Program has been developed, delivered, and overseen by a collaborative partnership, consisting of community parents, school staff, community-based agency representatives, and university-based researchers. Design of the program was informed by input from this collaborative partnership, child developmental theory of sexual risk, and empirical data gathered from the targeted community.

The role of personal contact with HIV-infected people in explaining urban, African American preadolescents' attitudes toward peers with HIV/AIDS.

This article presents the results of a study aimed at describing African American youths' attitudes toward peers with HIV/AIDS and identifying correlates of these attitudes based on the contact theory. Baseline data from a sample of African American, urban mothers and their youth (n = 197) participating in a family-based HIV prevention program were analyzed. In support of contact theory, preadolescents' close relationship to persons infected with HIV/AIDS was highly related to their attitudes.

A longitudinal examination of familial risk factors for depression among inner-city African American adolescents.

This research examines longitudinally associations between family risk factors and child and parent depression in 302 urban, low-income, African American adolescents (ages 9-15) and their parents across 2 waves of data collection. Diagnostic data revealed that 7.3% of parents and 3.

Individual and familial influences on the onset of sexual intercourse among urban African American adolescents.

A sample of 198 African American families, living in urban poverty, participated in a longitudinal study of adolescent sexual development beginning when children were in the 4th or 5th grade. Self-reports of family conflict and pubertal development and videotaped family interaction data were collected at 2 time points approximately 2 years apart. Youths reported on sexual debut at each time point.