HIV/STI Prevention Among Heterosexually Active Black Adolescents With Mental Illnesses: Focus Group Findings for Intervention Development.
Bridgette M Brawner, Loretta Sweet Jemmott, Gina Wingood and 2 others
PMID 29037602WHAT IT FOUND
Heterosexually active Black adolescents with mental illness described using sex and substances to cope with sadness or anger, and said they would take an HIV/STI prevention program in mental health care if it was fun, small, mixed-gender, and led by someone close to their age.
Key findings
01Coping with sadness, anger, or depression often involved seeking calm, using substances, or having sex for emotional relief.
02Condom use was less consistent in trusting or repeated relationships, and raising condoms after sex could be read as suspicion of infidelity.
03Participants were largely willing to take an HIV/STI program in mental health care and wanted a facilitator close to their age rather than an adult provider.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was small and came from outpatient mental health programs, so it cannot represent all Black adolescents with mental illness. The study was qualitative and did not test an HIV/STI prevention program or measure outcomes. Participants were excluded if they had active psychosis, developmental disability, active suicidality, or unstable contact information, so findings do not speak to adolescents with those conditions. Sexual behavior, condom use, partners, and diagnoses were self-reported, and anonymous surveys prevented linking quotes to ages. Convenience sampling and recruitment through mental health programs may have selected adolescents already open to sexual health programs. Mixed-gender focus groups may have limited what some participants said, although the authors said they also allowed discussion of partner dynamics.
Declared interests
The authors declared no real or perceived vested interests. The paper is tagged as supported by U.S. government P.H.S. research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that a near-peer HIV/STI prevention program works. It reports what adolescents said about sex, condoms, coping, and program preferences; no intervention was tested.