Roberta L. Paikoff’s research while affiliated with University of Illinois Chicago and other places

To read this article's abstract in both Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, please visit the article's full‐text page on Wiley InterScience ( http://interscience.wiley.com/journal/famp ). 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. We identified the range of sexual‐based topics that adolescents discussed with their mothers, fathers, friends, and at school. The relationship between the frequency of sexual communication and sexual risk was examined. We also investigated congruency between adolescent and mother report about whether sexual‐based discussions occurred. Consistent with prior research, girls talked to their mothers, fathers, friends, and at school about sex‐related topics more than boys. Findings indicated that mothers not only communicated more frequently about sexual issues with their daughters than sons but that parental messages for girls were more protective. Greater sexual communication with mother was significantly associated with decreased HIV risk in the past 90 days and increased protection from HIV. Inconsistencies between mother and adolescent reports about sexual communication were marginally associated with decreased protection from HIV. Findings reveal the protective effect of sexual communication and the general lack of congruence between mother and adolescent reports of sexual communication.

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. The history of programme development, including theoretical foundations and results across sites, is discussed with a particular emphasis on the implications of CHAMP'S dissemination thus far.

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. Stressors experienced by the family and concerns around talking with children about sex were not significantly associated with participation. Recommendations to enhance involvement in family-based HIV prevention programs are made.

Given the urgent need for HIV/AIDS interventions that will reverse current infection trends among urban minority youth, identifying effective and socially relevant approaches is of primary concern. HIV/AIDS prevention initiatives that are housed in, and led by, communities may address the limits of laboratory-based inquiry for this complex and socially-situated health issue. In this article, we describe the process of moving a researcherled, HIV/AIDS prevention research program—the Collaborative HIV/AIDS Adolescent Mental Health Project (CHAMP)—from a university laboratory to a community mental health agency with the goal of strengthening program access, effectiveness, and sustainability over time. We outline the framework, timeline, and responsibilities involved in moving the program, research, and technology from its original university base to a local community agency. From the challenges faced and lessons learned during this complex transfer process, we hope to enhance understanding of ways in which we can narrow the gap between academic and community leadership of HIV/AIDS prevention prevention research.

In the current study we examined individual growth curves of frequency of sexual intercourse among a sample of urban, low-income, African American youth at increased risk for subsequent HIV/AIDS exposure. Three waves of longitudinal data from the Collaborative HIV-Prevention AdolescentMental Health (CHAMP) project were utilized. Participant ages ranged from 9 to 12 years (M = 11 years) at the first interview wave and from 15 to 19 years (M = 18 years) at the final interview wave. As such, we were able to map out true developmental trajectories of sexual intercourse over a 10-year period of adolescence (spanning ages 9 to 19 years). Results indicate that the average study participant was sexually abstinent (in terms of intercourse) during the pre-teen years, reported a single episode of sexual intercourse between ages 14 and 15, and by age 19, reported between 3 and 10 episodes of sexual intercourse. Significant variability in the acceleration of growth rates (as captured by a quadratic random effect) was observed, suggesting that some youth accelerated more rapidly (in their sexual intercourse histories) than did others. Participant gender predicted trajectory starting points; boys reported higher rates of sexual intercourse at age 12. Frequency of baseline exposure to sexual possibility situations (i.e., being in mixed-sex company in a private place in the absence of adult supervision) predicted growth curve acceleration, suggesting preteenswith more exposure to sexual possibility situations accelerated more rapidly in their rates of sexual intercourse over time. Developmental implications of these data are discussed.

The family system is integral to adolescent mental health and HIV risk. However, few studies have addressed family variables and adolescent outcomes among African American families. This study tested a longitudinal model of parenting, adolescent mental health, and adolescent HIV risk, among a community sample of low-income, urban African American families from the Collaborative HIV prevention and Adolescent Mental Health Project (CHAMP). Consistent with general adolescent population data, we expected less parental monitoring, greater psychological control and less positive parenting to increase risk for adolescent depression and conduct problems. We hypothesized that these variables would in turn increase rates of HIV risk. We followed one hundred and thirty-four African American youth and their maternal caregivers as part of the CHAMP project. Study variables included: positive parenting, parental monitoring, psychological control, adolescent distress, conduct problems, and recent HIV risk. We examined the relationship among these variables via longitudinal path analysis. Age was strongly associated with increased adolescent HIV risk. Contrary to hypotheses, more parental psychological control was marginally associated with less HIV risk, while positive parenting was marginally associated with greater HIV risk. Adolescent depression was associated with more conduct problems, but unrelated to HIV risk. Thus, parenting practices generally considered negative might actually be protective among some lower SES African-American families. This underscores the importance of extending studies of family context and adolescent risk behaviors to diverse social and ethnic groups. Designing prevention programs for diverse groups will require articulating culturally specific effects for different parenting practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

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. One research project, the CHAMP (Collaborative HIV prevention and Adolescent Mental health Project) Family Program Study, an urban, family-based HIV prevention project will be used to illustrate how the Collaborative Board oversees a community-based research study. The process of establishing a Collaborative Board, recruiting members and developing subcommittees is described within this article. Examples of specific issues addressed by the Collaborative Board within its subcommittees, Implementation, Finance, Welcome, Research, Grant writing, Curriculum, and Leadership, are detailed in this article along with lessons learned.

A sample of 146 African American adolescents living in impoverished neighborhoods with high HIV rates participated in the Chicago HIV Prevention and Adolescent Mental Health Project (CHAMP), a longitudinal study of adolescent HIV risk exposure. The current study examined self-reported reasons why African American adolescents may participate in risky sexual behavior. Adolescents completed a questionnaire regarding their sexual behaviors and reasons for having sex at Wave 3 of data collection. Findings from the study revealed that females used condoms less consistently while males had more sexual partners and sexually debuted earlier. Regression analyses also indicated that males were more likely to endorse self-esteem enhancing reasons for having sex and those who did also reported a higher number of sexual partners. Males were more likely to endorse power-related reasons for having sex and those who did tended to sexually debut earlier. Across both genders, results suggested that those adolescents who endorsed more self-esteem enhancing reasons for having sex were less likely to use condoms consistently. Implications for prevention programs and future research are discussed.

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). This often translates into three concrete programmatic features: (1) Contextual relevance; (2) Developmental-groundedness; and (3) Systemic Delivery. Because families are considered to be urban youth's best hope to grow up and survive multiple-dangers in urban neighborhoods (Pequegnat & Szapocznik, 2000), centering prevention within families may ensure that youth receive ongoing support, education, and messages that can increase their capacity to negotiate peer situations involving sex.This paper will present preliminary data from an HIV/AIDS prevention program that is contextually relevant, developmentally grounded and systematically-delivered. The collaborative HIV/AIDS Adolescent Mental Health Project (CHAMP) is aimed at decreasing HIV/AIDS risk exposure among a sample of African American youth living in a poverty-stricken, inner-city community in Chicago. This study describes results from this family-based HIV preventive intervention and involves 88 African American pre-adolescents and their primary caregivers. We present results for the intervention group at baseline and post intervention. We compare post test results to a community comparison group of youth. Suggestions for future research are provided.