Changes in developmental factors and HIV risk behaviors among early adolescents in Puerto Rico.

Introduction: Teenagers are the fastest growing group of newly HIV-infected persons. Consequently, a support model for HIV risk reduction was designed and implemented for early adolescents in Puerto Rico.

Objective: The purpose of this article is to assess changes in developmental factors and HIV risk behaviors among early adolescents after three years of follow-up of an intervention and a non-intervention group.

Methods: This prospective cohort study followed 135 early adolescents who were enrolled in the ASUMA (A Supportive Model for HIV Risk Reduction in Early Adolescents) Project. The study was performed in two public and two private junior schools. Baseline and three follow-up self-administered questionnaires were given. We examined sociodemographic factors, HIV risk behavior and developmental factors.

Results: 48% were in the intervention group and 51.1% were controls. Most adolescents were aged 12 years; 47.4% were males; 75.6% reported not having risk behaviors and 24.4% reported having risk behaviors at anytime in their lifespan. A significant decrease in the HIV risk behaviors median was observed among the intervention group (P < .05), while a nonsignificant increase was found among adolescents in the control group. At the end of the implementation phase, positive improvement in the developmental factors were observed in the intervention group (P < .05).

Conclusions: Our study suggests that the ASUMA project curriculum had a positive effect on developmental factors and HIV risk behaviors, as proposed in our conceptual framework. Also, this study illustrates the importance of the creation of culturally appropriate instruments and interventions to reach the goal of HIV/AIDS reduction.