Developing and Examining Evidenced-Based HIV Testing Messages

African American women have the highest risk and prevalence of HIV infection among women of all racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Many of the current HIV infections among young adult African American women remain undiagnosed. The established benefits of routine HIV testing, the limitations of safer sex programs, and the gap of research related to increasing HIV testing as prevention necessitates the need for future research that specifically targets mechanisms to increase HIV testing. Higher rates of HIV testing can decrease rates of HIV transmission, as individuals who are knowledgeable of their status are less likely to transmit the virus. The current literature is sparse on factors related to HIV testing among young adults and has largely only examined demographic and sexual behavior correlates of HIV testing. Additionally, no studies have developed evidence-based health messages to promote HIV testing specifically among African American young women, despite their high risk of HIV infection and the importance of HIV testing. Thus, the proposed study will intend to identify factors related to HIV testing beyond the demographic and sexual risk level through formative research. These identified factors will be included as important elements in the development of HIV testing messages to motivate increased HIV testing. An enhanced message (culturally tailored) and a knowledge only message will be developed and tested.