Color It Real: A Program to Increase Condom Use and Reduce Substance Abuse and Perceived Stress

Tiffany Zellner, Jennie Trotter, Shelia Lenoir, Kelvin Walston, L’dia Men-Na’a, Tabia Henry-Akintobi and Assia Miller
Additional contact information
Tiffany Zellner: Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine Prevention Research Center, 720 Westview Drive SW, Atlanta, GA 30310, USA
Jennie Trotter: Wholistic Stress Control Institute, Incorporated, 2545 Benjamin E Mays Drive, Atlanta, GA 30311, USA
Shelia Lenoir: Wholistic Stress Control Institute, Incorporated, 2545 Benjamin E Mays Drive, Atlanta, GA 30311, USA
Kelvin Walston: Wholistic Stress Control Institute, Incorporated, 2545 Benjamin E Mays Drive, Atlanta, GA 30311, USA
L’dia Men-Na’a: Wholistic Stress Control Institute, Incorporated, 2545 Benjamin E Mays Drive, Atlanta, GA 30311, USA
Tabia Henry-Akintobi: Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine Prevention Research Center, 720 Westview Drive SW, Atlanta, GA 30310, USA
Assia Miller: McKing Consulting Corporation, 2900 Chamblee Tucker Road, Building 10, Suite 100, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Few interventions have targeted perceived stress as a co-occurring construct central to substance use and subsequent HIV/AIDS risk reduction among African American urban young adults. The Color It Real Program was a seven session, weekly administered age-specific and culturally-tailored intervention designed to provide substance abuse and HIV education and reduce perceived stress among African Americans ages 18 to 24 in Atlanta, GA. Effectiveness was assessed through a quasi-experimental study design that consisted of intervention ( n = 122) and comparison ( n = 70) groups completing a pre- and post-intervention survey. A series of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests were used to assess pre- to post-intervention changes between study groups. For intervention participants, perceived stress levels were significantly reduced by the end of the intervention ( t (70) = 2.38, p = 0.020), condom use at last sexual encounter significantly increased ( F = 4.43, p = 0.0360), intervention participants were significantly less likely to drink five or more alcoholic drinks in one sitting ( F = 5.10, p = 0.0245), and to use clean needles when injecting the drug ( F = 36.99, p = 0.0001). This study is among the first of its kind to incorporate stress management as an integral approach to HIV/SA prevention. The program has implications for the design of other community-based, holistic approaches to addressing substance use and risky behaviors for young adults.

Keywords: African Americans; young adults; substance abuse; HIV prevention; stress (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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