ResearchProjects

The majority of the world’s youth, 90 percent, live in low and middle income countries such as the Dominican Republic. Despite this, most evidence-based HIV prevention efforts have been developed in high income country settings. In contrast, comparatively few evidence-based interventions have been developed in, or adapted for youth in developing country contexts. Families Talking Together (FTT) is a family-based intervention designed for Latino and African Americans to support effective parent-adolescent communication and delay early sexual behavior. It has been shown to effectively lower sexual risk behavior among Latino youth in high prevalence communities of the U.S. For this study, the intervention was tailored to the local Dominican context by incorporating specific content related to local risk factors for HIV transmission, such as the tourism industry and the correspondingly high rates of drug and alcohol use and sex work. Evidence-based programs that focus directly on the family as a critical determinant in a teen’s life, and which can be effectively adapted across settings, are crucial for addressing the HIV epidemic in the Dominican Republic and other countries.