Participant satisfaction with group and individual components of Adolescent Impact: a secondary prevention intervention for HIV-positive youth

Abstract

Adolescent Impact, a developmentally targeted behavioral intervention aimed at decreasing risk behaviors and promoting health care adherence, was delivered to 83 HIV-infected youth, aged 13–21 years, receiving care in five urban HIV centers. Participants completed a patient satisfaction survey following the 12 part intervention consisting of seven groups and five individual sessions. A feedback questionnaire was also completed during each group session to gain more insight on participant experiences. Several indicators suggested high levels of satisfaction. First, overall attendance was relatively high. Second, participants rated their subjective experience and group content favorably. No differences in satisfaction ratings emerged between perinatally infected adolescents and those who acquired HIV through risk behaviors. However, differences emerged regarding perceived intervention utility and content-specific preferences. Findings suggest that Adolescent Impact participants were satisfied with the intervention and that a heterogeneous group of HIV-infected youth could be advantageously integrated into the same secondary prevention program.

Keywords:

• HIV
• youth
• adolescents
• satisfaction
• intervention

Acknowledgements

The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Adolescent Impact study was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through cooperative agreements U64CCU219448 (New York University School of Medicine), U64CCU319459 (Children's National Medical Center) and U64CCU319455 (University of Maryland School of Medicine).

Children's National Medical Center; Washington, D.C.: Lawrence D'Angelo, Jean Fletcher, Maureen Lyon, Kathryn Platky; Yolanda Peele, Anne Sill, Connie Trexler, Shawnese Gilpin; University of Maryland School of Medicine; Baltimore, MD: Ligia Peralta, Vicki Tepper, John Farley, Hibest Assefa, Maria Metcalf, Rhonda Phill; New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY: Sulachni Chandwani, Jennifer Lewis, Stephanie Marhefka, Lisa Orban, Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY: Joseph Stavola, Christine Nguyen, Harriet Plaskow, Erika Rexhouse, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Atlanta, GA: Renee Stein, Holly Clark, Krystal Hodge, Goli Vamshidar, Sivakumar Rangarajan, Zaneta Gaul, Ngozi Kamalu, Bob Yang, Mary Glenn Fowler, Sherri Pals, Jeff Wiener.