Black Adolescent Females' Perceptions of PrEP for HIV Risk Reduction.

Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention is approved for use in adolescents, though uptake remains low. Black adolescent females experience higher rates of HIV transmission compared to adolescent females of other racial/ethnic groups. Increasing PrEP awareness and education among this population may be an effective strategy to mitigate disparities in HIV transmission among Black adolescent females. Twenty-seven Black adolescent females participated in focus groups which were coded using the constant comparative method of qualitative analysis to identify major themes: (1) PrEP is not commonly framed as an HIV prevention strategy for heterosexual Black adolescent females, (2) PrEP use among peers is perceived as mostly positive, (3) Adoption of PrEP among Black adolescent females is impeded by perceived barriers such as stigma, negative side effects, and adherence concerns. These findings may inform the development of targeted culturally tailored marketing and educational campaigns centered on Black heterosexual adolescent females to increase PrEP awareness and uptake in this population disproportionately affected by HIV.

How Black Teen Girls Navigate Social Media to Form Romantic Relationships.

The purpose of this study was to explore the use of social media within the context of heterosexual Black teen girls' romantic partner selection processes. To better understand Black teen girls' experiences, five focus groups (N = 27; aged 14-18 years) were conducted over Zoom. An inductive thematic analysis revealed four major themes: (1) the use of different platforms to gather different types of information, (2) the rules of social media scouting, (3) detecting partner qualities through social media, and (4) exploring Black teen girls' experience with social media and dating. Participants in our study primarily used Instagram to understand a potential partner's true self, while Twitter was used to assess a potential partner's political leanings. Our participants shared numerous "rules" related to the partner-scouting process. Black teen girls in our study explained that photos index a potential partner's style and hygiene, while memes were used to gauge sense of humor compatibility. More specific to Black teen girls, across all focus groups, participants shared their experiences of racism and bias, such as being associated with Black stereotypes, cultural invalidation, and being accused of "acting White." Although teen girls of various racial and ethnic groups may use social media to vet romantic partners, findings reveal that Black teen girls navigate social media in a unique way, including being highly attuned to signs of bias. Our findings suggest that in the first few months of COVID-19 social distancing had little impact on our participant's practice of using social media to vet potential romantic partners.

Evaluation of a virtual reality E-cigarette prevention game for adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To test preliminary efficacy and acceptability of Invite Only VR: A Vaping Prevention Game (Invite Only VR), an electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) prevention game that uses virtual reality (VR) hardware. METHODS: 285 adolescents (146 boys; ages 11-14; M = 12.45 years; SD = 0.57) were enrolled in this non-equivalent control groups design through their middle school. Participants who played Invite Only VR for 1.5 h were compared to treatment as usual at 4 timepoints: baseline, post gameplay, 3 and 6 months. Evidence of the efficacy of the game to influence e-cigarette use, e-cigarette knowledge, nicotine addiction knowledge, perceived addictiveness of e-cigarettes, perceived likelihood of using e-cigarettes, perceptions of harm, self-efficacy to refuse, social approval of e-cigarettes, and e-cigarette social perceptions was assessed using mixed between-within subjects ANOVAS. Intervention acceptability was indicated by measures of gameplay experience/satisfaction, VR experience, and perceived responsibility for game-based decisions. RESULTS: From baseline to 6 months, Invite Only VR players improved in e-cigarette knowledge, nicotine addiction knowledge, perceived addictiveness of e-cigarettes, perceptions of harm, and social perceptions about e-cigarette use compared to the control group. No significant changes were observed for the other dependent variables, including e-cigarette use. Ratings of gameplay experience and satisfaction, VR experience, and game-based decisions were high. CONCLUSIONS: Invite Only VR may help players develop knowledge about e-cigarettes and nicotine addiction, as well as encourage the development of healthy harm and social perceptions regarding e-cigarette use that persist 6 months beyond gameplay. Adolescents' satisfaction with the VR gameplay indicates preliminary intervention acceptability.