# TEACHING YOUTH SOCIAL SKILLS--AN AIDS PREVENTION TRIAL

> **NIH NIH R01** · SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY · 1994 · $205,054

## Abstract

The goal of Project STARRT was to increase adolescents' understanding of
AIDS risks and test a preventive intervention to decrease risk behaviors
for pregnancy, STDs and AIDS. A social skills training program was
developed to impart peer-resistance skills for drug and sexual practices
among 440 Latino and Anglo youth, and to determine the degree of
dissemination of skills to friends. The random assignment design and
objective measures of skills made it possible to assess the role of social
network interactions on AIDS risk practices. The experimental training
resulted in a four-fold increase in social skills levels, and evidence of
dissemination of skills between trained youth and their friends was
observed. In addition, correlates of social skills and risk behaviors
supported our conceptual model of adolescent sexual behavior. This
competitive renewal proposes to follow these youth through four years post
training. At which time they will be 18 to 23 years of age. The majority
will be sexually active and many will have over 5 years of sexual
experience. This follow-up will require 18 months of continued support and
will enable the assessment of the durability of training effects as well
as exploration of the social determinants of risk practices. Planned
analysis will contribute to the understanding of AIDS risk during the
period of life when approximately 20% of all HIV infections are
established, and for under-served populations in the case of Latinos. The
proposed competitive continuation of Project STARRT will take advantage of
existing reliable measures, trained staff, data collection facilities and
a comprehensive data set on a cohort demonstrated as retainable for
additional measures. These pre-existing factors make such an extension an
efficient means of collecting longitudinal data from early adolescence
through early adulthood for Latino and Anglo youth. The following specific
aims will be achieved during the proposed 18-month continuation period: 1.
to recruit at least 85% of the initial cohort to a 48-month follow-up
interview of risk behavior and disease status; 2. to determine the
differential effects of the social skills training, usual sex education
and no-training on risk practices and outcomes at 48 months; 3. to explore
the relationship between changes in hypothesized determinants of sexual
behavior and changes in sexual behaviors.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 2199367
- **Project number:** 2R01HD025021-06A1
- **Recipient organization:** SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **SAM.gov UEI:** H59JKGFZKHL7
- **Principal Investigator:** Melbourne F Hovell
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1994
- **Award amount:** $205,054
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 1988-09-01 → 1995-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/2199367

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 2199367, TEACHING YOUTH SOCIAL SKILLS--AN AIDS PREVENTION TRIAL (2R01HD025021-06A1). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/2199367. Licensed CC0.

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