Scope: Targeting Mass Media Campaigns for HIV, STD, and Pregnancy Prevention in India

In response to Notice AI-07-022, "Administrative Supplements for U.S. - India Bilateral Collaborative Research on the Prevention of HIV/AIDS," we are proposing a supplement to 2R01-MHMH063705-01A2, "Targeting Mass Media Interventions for HIV, STD, and Pregnancy Prevention." In the proposed supplement, we plan to collaborate with Dr. Priyamvada S. Todankar, an HIV prevention researcher at PSIIndia, to extend the work on the parent grant which develops public service announcements to delay sexual initiation in US adolescents. The proposed work, conducted in conjunction with two additional NGOs (AIDSIndia and SOMA) in 4 urban areas (Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad, high HIV prevalence areas of India), will begin the process toward the development of a media campaign targeted at late adolescents and/or young adults in HIV prevalence areas of India. Specifically, the US and India teams specifically propose to: 1) Solidify a new HIV prevention research !partnership between the Institute for HIV Prevention at the University of Kentucky (USA) and PSI-India, AIDS India, and SOMA; 2) Develop and employ a survey instrument to assess media use, sexual risk-taking and related attitudes, norms, self-efficacy, sensation-seeking, impulsive decision-making, and other potential mediating variables in late adolescents and/or young adults in high HIV prevalence areas of India; 3) Assess the most appropriate media channel for which to develop a mass media campaign to delay initiation of sexual intercourse in reduce late adolescents and/or young adults in high HIV prevalence areas of India; and 4) Develop initial public service announcements (PSAs) or other media messages for a subsequent campaign to delay initiation of sexual behavior in late adolescents and/or young adults in high HIV prevalence areas of India. Methods to be used to achieve the specific aims include a variety of activities, beginning before award of the supplement, to initiate conversations and collaborative efforts between the US and Indian research partners; focus groups, cognitive interviews, pilot-tests, and subsequently administration of surveys to a total of 600 respondents in the 4 urban areas using audio-assisted personal digital assistant (APDA) methodology to reduce social desirability biases of self-reports; and additional reaction groups, development of scripts or messages for one or two media channels determined likely to be most effective for a subsequent campaign, and pilot-testing of the messages with members of the target audience. India currently has one of the highest AIDS prevalences in the world. As HIV potentially begins to move from high-risk groups (sex workers and truck drivers) to the general population, the proposed . supplement will prepare our collaborative research group to test a major media campaign to reduce HIV risk.