Efficacy of an American alcohol and HIV prevention curriculum adapted for use in South Africa: Results of a pilot study in five township schools

The high prevalence of HIV among young people in African countries underscores a pressing need for effective prevention interventions. Adapting school-based prevention programs developed in the United States for use in African schools may present an alternative to the time-consuming process of developing home-grown programs. The researchers report the results of a pretest-posttest field trial of an alcohol/HIV prevention curriculum adapted from an American model and delivered to ninth-grade students in five South African township schools. The revised intervention was based primarily on the Project Northland alcohol prevention and Reducing the Risk safer sex programs. The researchers found significant differences in change from baseline to follow-up between students in intervention and comparison groups on intentions to use a condom; drinking before or during sex; and, among females, sex refusal self-efficacy. The results of the field trial suggest that behavioral interventions developed in Western countries may be rapidly adapted to work in other cultural contexts.