Efficacy of a home-based human immunodeficiency virus prevention video program for teens and parents

Family-based communication about sexual behavior and sexuality is a predominate theme in the key risk reduction and service objectives for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention and related issues in Healthy People 2000. These recommendations are particularly poignant for younger adolescents who are not yet sexually active and whose social orientation is primarily to family and parents. A family-centered, home-based, video program to foster parent and teen knowledge and communication regarding issues related to HIV prevention and to increase family and teen communication skills was used in an intensive field test of program efficacy. Sixty-nine families with at least one adolescent age 12 to 14 years were recruited through their primary-care physicians and were randomly assigned to either experimental (video with information and skills training) or control (video with information only) conditions in a pre-posttest with a 4-month follow-up design. Both versions of the video program resulted in substantial increases in HIV-related knowledge for parents and teens, but only the skill-training (experimental) version produced increases in knowledge of communication skills and behavioral demonstrations of family problem solving. Approaches for a broader and more effective parent-training video program and for dissemination through primary-care physicians are discussed.