Influence of communicator's race on efficacy of an HIV/STD prevention intervention among African American and Caucasian college students

ABSTRACT Objectives: The present research examined the influence of communicator's race on the efficacy of intervention videos in the reduction of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among African American and Caucasian college females.
Design: Experimental HIV/STD prevention digital versatile disks (DVDs) featured a White female as a primary or a secondary communicator relative to a Black female, while a control DVD featured 2 Black females. Respondents watched 1 DVD and completed questionnaires before and after viewing the DVD as well as 2 and 4 weeks later.
Sample: 79 African American females and 88 Caucasian females participated.
Measurements: Perceptions of the DVDs, HIV/STD risk, intentions to use condoms, and number of condoms purchased after viewing the videos were assessed.
Results: The intervention was effective in increasing intentions to use condoms with a current partner across the follow-up periods. There was no effect of race of communicator on any variable for African American or Caucasians.
Conclusions: While communicator's race did not affect this intervention, more research is necessary. Future studies should use multiple Black and White communicators to isolate the role of race and should be conducted where larger samples of African American college students can be recruited.