A multimedia-based approach to increasing communication and the level of AIDS knowledge within families

Abstract

The print and electronic media have been used effectively in the past to assist individuals in altering negative health behaviors and attitudes associated with obesity, stress, hypertension, and smoking. This article presents the use of a multimedia‐based, health promotion strategy targeted toward AIDS prevention within the family unit. In November of 1988, for 6 consecutive days, 5‐ to 10‐minute segments addressing AIDS and the family were televised on the noon and 9 p.m. news broadcasts of a major television station in the midwest. One hundred fifty‐one 8th‐grade students and their parents were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions. The intervention consisted of prompting participants to view the broadcasts and giving them printed material regarding AIDS and how the topic could be discussed within the family. This AIDS educational newspaper supplement paralleled the content of the daily telecasts. All participants completed questionnaires approximately 1 week prior to and after the media program. Controls were not given the prompt or provided the supplements. Children who were encouraged to watch the program viewed significantly more of the broadcasts, talked more about sexual issues within their families, and were more knowledgeable about AIDS than controls. Parents of children identified as at risk for HIV infection had more difficulty discussing AIDS with their children than parents of children not at risk.

Interventions to Improve Parental Communication About Sex: A Systematic Review

“…44,47,52,53,55 No change was noted in 1 study. 46 Four studies assessed adolescent reports of changes in the frequency of communication: 2 resulted in increases 47,53 ; the adolescent result was not reported for 1 study 52 ; and 1 resulted in no change. 46 Only 1 study compared the magnitude of change in the frequency of communication between parents and adolescents; parents reported a larger change than adolescents.…”

“…MQSs ranged from 6 to 16 points (mean: 12 Ϯ 3) ( Table 4). Only 1 study had an MQS in the lower-quality range 54 ; 7 were of medium quality, 44,46,48,49,51,52,55 and 4 were of high quality. 45,47,50,53 Reliability/Validity Assessment Studies infrequently reported validity or reliability data for the measures used to assess study outcomes.…”

“…[44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51] The studies were published in 11 journals that represent a variety of disciplinary fields including psychology, 46,50,52 family relations, 44,53,54 adolescent health, 47,55 general medicine, 51 public health, 48 nursing, 56 and sexual health. 49 …”

“…Most of these measures were developed by the investigators for their individual study. 44,52 and 1 in the Northeast. 49 Only 2 targeted rural populations.…”

“…Participants in 3 studies consisted mostly of white respondents, [53][54][55] 6 included predominantly black respondents, 44,45,[47][48][49][50] and the remainder included samples with more than 2 racial/ethnic groups. 46,51,52 …”