Integrating HIV Prevention and Relationship Education for Young Same-Sex Male Couples: A Pilot Trial of the 2GETHER Intervention

Michael E. Newcomb; Kathryn R. Macapagal; Brian A. Feinstein; Emily Bettin; Gregory Swann; Sarah W. Whitton

doi:10.1007/s10461-017-1674-0

Integrating HIV Prevention and Relationship Education for Young Same-Sex Male Couples: A Pilot Trial of the 2GETHER Intervention

Michael E. Newcomb^*, Kathryn R. Macapagal, Brian A. Feinstein, Emily Bettin, Gregory Swann, Sarah W. Whitton

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

85 Scopus citations

Abstract

Young men who have sex with men are at high risk for HIV, and most new HIV infections occur in serious relationships. This pilot study assessed the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of the 2GETHER couples-based HIV prevention and relationship education intervention for young same-sex male couples. We enrolled 57 young male couples (N = 114) into a four-session hybrid group and individual intervention. We assessed acceptability via post-session surveys and exit interviews, and we examined preliminary efficacy at a two week posttest. The vast majority of participants (93%) reported exclusively positive impressions of 2GETHER, and all components received high mean ratings. We observed decreases in HIV risk behavior, increases in information, motivation and behavioral skills related to HIV prevention, and improvement in relationship investment between pretest and posttest. Integrating relationship education and sexual health programming may be an effective way to reduce HIV transmissions in young male couples.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	2464-2478
Number of pages	15
Journal	AIDS and behavior
Volume	21
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1674-0
State	Published - Aug 1 2017

Funding

This research was supported by a grant from the Sexualities Project at Northwestern (PI: M. Newcomb). Michael Newcomb’s time was also supported in part by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (DP2DA042417; PI: M. Newcomb). We would like to acknowledge the various individuals who served as facilitators for this project (in addition to the authors): Ryan Coventry, David Drustrup, John Frank, Kelsey Howard, Darnell Motley, Jae A. Puckett, and Tyson Reuter. We would also like to acknowledge Samuel McMillen and Brian Mustanski for their support. Finally, we would like to thank the couples that participated in this study for their time.

Keywords

Couples
HIV/AIDS
Relationship education
Young men who have sex with men

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Social Psychology
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Infectious Diseases

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1007/s10461-017-1674-0

Cite this

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title = "Integrating HIV Prevention and Relationship Education for Young Same-Sex Male Couples: A Pilot Trial of the 2GETHER Intervention",

abstract = "Young men who have sex with men are at high risk for HIV, and most new HIV infections occur in serious relationships. This pilot study assessed the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of the 2GETHER couples-based HIV prevention and relationship education intervention for young same-sex male couples. We enrolled 57 young male couples (N = 114) into a four-session hybrid group and individual intervention. We assessed acceptability via post-session surveys and exit interviews, and we examined preliminary efficacy at a two week posttest. The vast majority of participants (93%) reported exclusively positive impressions of 2GETHER, and all components received high mean ratings. We observed decreases in HIV risk behavior, increases in information, motivation and behavioral skills related to HIV prevention, and improvement in relationship investment between pretest and posttest. Integrating relationship education and sexual health programming may be an effective way to reduce HIV transmissions in young male couples.",

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author = "Newcomb, {Michael E.} and Macapagal, {Kathryn R.} and Feinstein, {Brian A.} and Emily Bettin and Gregory Swann and Whitton, {Sarah W.}",

note = "Funding Information: This research was supported by a grant from the Sexualities Project at Northwestern (PI: M. Newcomb). Michael Newcomb{\textquoteright}s time was also supported in part by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (DP2DA042417; PI: M. Newcomb). We would like to acknowledge the various individuals who served as facilitators for this project (in addition to the authors): Ryan Coventry, David Drustrup, John Frank, Kelsey Howard, Darnell Motley, Jae A. Puckett, and Tyson Reuter. We would also like to acknowledge Samuel McMillen and Brian Mustanski for their support. Finally, we would like to thank the couples that participated in this study for their time. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017, Springer Science+Business Media New York.",

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Integrating HIV Prevention and Relationship Education for Young Same-Sex Male Couples: A Pilot Trial of the 2GETHER Intervention

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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