Abstract
In 2020, 20% of new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. were among individuals aged 13-24 transitional age youth (TAY), with 85% being male and 54% Black/African American (CDC, 2022a). Black/African American TAY acquire HIV at disproportionately higher rates than other ethnic groups (CDC, 2023e). A study of students at Historically Black Colleges/Universities (HBCUs) revealed that women reported 2-5 sexual partners, while men reported six or more, with up to 55.5% being inconsistent in condom use (Marshall et al., 2020). Despite this, 89% of students believed their sexual behaviors posed little to no HIV risk (Okeke et al., 2021).
This project sought to develop and pilot an educational video to promote awareness of sexual risk behaviors among Black/African Americans aged 18-24 at an HBCU. Using a pre/post-test design based on the Health Belief Model, a 4-minute video was created using CDC and AltaMed content. All students received an email invitation with study details and a participation link. Participants provided informed consent, completed a demographic and pre-test survey assessing sexual risk awareness, watched the video, and completed a post-test survey. Key questions included, “Based on your behavior over the past 3 months, how much do you think you are at risk for getting HIV?” and “How likely do you think you are to get HIV in your lifetime?”
Thirty-three students participated (30 females, 3 males). A paired t-test analyzed survey results. Pre-test responses indicated 87.9% felt “Not at risk” for HIV, which decreased to 72.7% on the post-test. Similarly, 51.5% believed they were “Not at all” likely to contract HIV during their lifetime pre-test, which remained unchanged post-test. A paired t-test showed no statistically significant increases in awareness (mean = -.1111; t = -.681; Sig = .502). Additionally, 18.2% did not respond to the post-test.
The lack of significant findings suggests the educational video did not effectively increase awareness of sexual risk behaviors among participants, potentially due to the small sample size. Further research is needed to identify factors contributing to limited HIV awareness among Black/African American youth. Future studies could explore enhancing secondary school sexual education or addressing overlooked factors to improve HIV awareness and prevention efforts in this population.
Notes
References:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023e, May). Monitoring selected national HIV prevention and care objectives by using HIV surveillance data—United States and 6 dependent areas, 2021. HIV Surveillance Supplemental Report, 2023; 28(4). http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/library/reports/hiv-surveillance.html.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022a, May). HIV Surveillance Report, 2020: Diagnoses of HIV infection in the United States and dependent areas, 2020; vol. 33. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/library/reports/hiv-surveillance.html
Marshall, S. A., Neher, T., Sockwell, L., Brown, L., & Zaller, N. (2020). Current HIV Testing & Risk Behaviors among Students at Historically Black Colleges & Universities in a Southern State. Journal of the National Medical Association, 112(4), 374–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnma.2020.04.008
Okeke, N. L., McLaurin, T., Gilliam-Phillips, R., Wagner, D. H., Barnwell, V. J., Johnson, Y. M., James, O., Webb, P. B., Parker, S. D., Hill, B., McKellar, M. S., & Mitchell, J. T. (2021). Awareness and acceptability of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among students at two historically Black universities (HBCU): a cross-sectional survey. BMC Public Health, 21(1), 943. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10996-2
Sigma Membership
Non-member
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Pilot/Exploratory Study
Keywords:
Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Sexual Risk Awareness, HIV Awareness, HIV Prevention, Secondary School Sexual Education
Recommended Citation
Karume, Tyesha, "“They are Having Sex!” HBCU Students Awareness of Sexual Risk Associated with HIV Prevention" (2025). Biennial Convention (CONV). 26.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2025/presentations_2025/26
Conference Name
48th Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2025-11-18
“They are Having Sex!” HBCU Students Awareness of Sexual Risk Associated with HIV Prevention
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
In 2020, 20% of new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. were among individuals aged 13-24 transitional age youth (TAY), with 85% being male and 54% Black/African American (CDC, 2022a). Black/African American TAY acquire HIV at disproportionately higher rates than other ethnic groups (CDC, 2023e). A study of students at Historically Black Colleges/Universities (HBCUs) revealed that women reported 2-5 sexual partners, while men reported six or more, with up to 55.5% being inconsistent in condom use (Marshall et al., 2020). Despite this, 89% of students believed their sexual behaviors posed little to no HIV risk (Okeke et al., 2021).
This project sought to develop and pilot an educational video to promote awareness of sexual risk behaviors among Black/African Americans aged 18-24 at an HBCU. Using a pre/post-test design based on the Health Belief Model, a 4-minute video was created using CDC and AltaMed content. All students received an email invitation with study details and a participation link. Participants provided informed consent, completed a demographic and pre-test survey assessing sexual risk awareness, watched the video, and completed a post-test survey. Key questions included, “Based on your behavior over the past 3 months, how much do you think you are at risk for getting HIV?” and “How likely do you think you are to get HIV in your lifetime?”
Thirty-three students participated (30 females, 3 males). A paired t-test analyzed survey results. Pre-test responses indicated 87.9% felt “Not at risk” for HIV, which decreased to 72.7% on the post-test. Similarly, 51.5% believed they were “Not at all” likely to contract HIV during their lifetime pre-test, which remained unchanged post-test. A paired t-test showed no statistically significant increases in awareness (mean = -.1111; t = -.681; Sig = .502). Additionally, 18.2% did not respond to the post-test.
The lack of significant findings suggests the educational video did not effectively increase awareness of sexual risk behaviors among participants, potentially due to the small sample size. Further research is needed to identify factors contributing to limited HIV awareness among Black/African American youth. Future studies could explore enhancing secondary school sexual education or addressing overlooked factors to improve HIV awareness and prevention efforts in this population.
Description
Black/African American Transitional Age Youth (TAY, 18-24) acquire HIV at disproportionately high rates, highlighting the need for prevention strategies like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The pilot study “They Are Having Sex!” conducted at an HBCU revealed that students lacked awareness of their HIV risk and had limited knowledge of PrEP. These findings underscore the urgent need for targeted strategies to enhance awareness and reduce HIV risk in this vulnerable population.