Abstract

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is an escalating problem in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the World Health Organization, the disease constitutes a threat to the health of adolescents in this region. One of the countries in this region with a growing prevalence of AIDS is Cameroon, where an estimated one in four adolescents is at risk for contracting this disease. Little is known, however, about effective strategies that can assist adolescents in this country to reduce their vulnerability. The specific aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of a school-based intervention delivered to pre-adolescent Cameroonian girls to: (1) increase intentions to postpone sexual activity and (2) increase sexual-abstinence behavior skills. A secondary aim was to determine the age and cultural appropriateness of the intervention. A pretest/posttest quasi-experimental design was used. Participants included 60 female students from a primary school in Buea, Cameroon. The students received a pretest measuring intentions to postpone sexual activity and sexual-abstinence behavior skills followed by an educational intervention based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. A posttest was then administered to measure the same variables as in the pretest. The posttest included a one-page open-ended questionnaire assessing the age and cultural appropriateness of the intervention. Exact paired t-tests were used to compare pretest and posttest scores. Effect sizes and confidence intervals were also estimated for each of the two dependent variables. The alpha level was set a priori at 0.05. The one-page questionnaire was assessed using quasi-quantitative analyses to assess students' perceptions on appropriateness of the intervention. The intervention was effective in increasing intentions to postpone sexual activity (t = 3.40; p < .05) and sexual-abstinence behavior skills (t = 4.51; p < .05). Effect sizes were moderate, with narrow 95% confidence intervals (.66; CI = .59–.73 and .75; CI = .67–.83 respectively). Most participants (>75%) also perceived that the intervention appropriate. The findings provide a basis for a large randomized community trial using these instruments and intervention. If these findings are replicated with larger random samples the intervention could be used by policy makers, public health planners, and community health nurses to reverse the rapidly escalating HIV infection rates in Cameroon.

Description

This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 3135109; ProQuest document ID: 305202588. The author still retains copyright.

Comfort C. Enah

Author Details

Dr. Comfort C. Enah, PhD, RN

Sigma Membership

Beta Iota

Type

Dissertation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Quasi-Experimental Study, Other

Research Approach

Mixed/Multi Method Research

Keywords:

HIV/AIDS, Adolescent Girls, Disease Prevention

Advisors

Sommers, Marilyn

Degree

PhD

Degree Grantor

University of Cincinnati

Degree Year

2004

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Date of Issue

2020-08-14

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