NATIVE-It's Your Game: Adapting a Technology-Based Sexual Health Curriculum for American Indian and Alaska Native youth.

Sexually transmitted infection (STI) and birth rates among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth indicate a need for effective middle school HIV/STI and pregnancy prevention curricula to delay, or mitigate, the consequences of early sexual activity. While effective curricula exist, there is a dearth of curricula with content salient to AI/AN youth. Further, there is a lack of sexual health curricula that take advantage of the motivational appeal, reach, and fidelity of communication technology for this population, who are sophisticated technology users. We describe the adaptation process used to develop Native It's Your Game, a stand-alone 13-lesson Internet-based sexual health life-skills curriculum adapted from an existing promising sexual health curriculum, It's Your Game-Tech (IYG-Tech). The adaptation included three phases: (1) pre-adaptation needs assessment and IYG-Tech usability testing; (2) adaptation, including design document development, prototype programming, and alpha testing; and (3) post-adaption usability testing. Laboratory- and school-based tests with AI/AN middle school youth demonstrated high ratings on usability parameters. Youth rated the Native IYG lessons favorably in meeting the needs of AI/AN youth (54-86 % agreement across lessons) and in comparison to other learning channels (57-100 %) and rated the lessons as helpful in making better health choices (73-100 %). Tribal stakeholders rated Native IYG favorably, and suggested it was culturally appropriate for AI/AN youth and suitable for implementation in tribal settings. Further efficacy testing is indicated for Native IYG, as a potential strategy to deliver HIV/STI and pregnancy prevention to traditionally underserved AI/AN middle school youth.

The BRAVE Study: Formative Research to Design a Multimedia Intervention for American Indian and Alaska Native Young Adults.

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) young adults are strong and resilient. Interventions designed to improve their mental health and help-seeking skills are especially needed, particularly those that include culturally relevant resources and relatable role models. This paper presents formative research from the BRAVE study, a five-year community based participatory research project led by the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board. Formative research included three phases and more than 38 AI/AN young adults and content experts from across the United States. Results indicate that behavioral interventions can be feasibly delivered via text message to AI/AN young adults and that including Native youth in the formative research is critical to designing a comprehensive, culturally-responsive intervention. Lessons learned from this five-year process may help other youth-serving organizations, prevention programs, policymakers, researchers, and educators as they support the next generation of AI/AN leaders.

Assessment of the Reach, Usability, and Perceived Impact of "Talking Is Power": A Parental Sexual Health Text-Messaging Service and Web-Based Resource to Empower Sensitive Conversations with American Indian and Alaska Native Teens.

BACKGROUND: Early sexual debut among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) adolescents has been associated with an increased risk of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, along with an increased risk of having multiple lifetime sexual partners, and engaging in greater frequency of sex, substance abuse, and lack of condom use. A major protective factor against early sexual debut among AI/AN youth is the familial system. Interventions aiming to improve parent-child communication and parental warmth toward adolescent sexual health topics were reported to contribute to positive youth sexual health outcomes, specifically among minority youth. Healthy Native Youth thus developed the Talking is Power text-messaging service to guide parents and caring adults on how to initiate sensitive topics with youth and how to support them in making informed decisions regarding sex and healthy relationships. METHODS: Descriptive statistics were used to demonstrate website analytics and reach per views and time spent on each page, and for displaying participants' responses to the questions on the usability of the Talking is Power text-messaging series. To assess the perceived impact of the series, the differences in mean percentage scores of the question assessing parental comfort in engaging in sexual health topics with youth between pre- and post-intervention were calculated using two-sample t-tests of equal variances. Descriptive content analysis was adopted to highlight emerging themes from open-ended items. RESULTS: When looking at reach, 862 entrances were recorded during the specified time period (5.8% of total entrances to HNY website), while the bounce rate was set at 73.1% (22.6% greater than the industry average), and the exit rate was 54.3% (15.2% greater than the industry average). Series usability was highly ranked on the 5-Likert scale in terms of signing up for a similar series on a different topic, quality of images, texts, and links, relating to prompts, and change in sparking sensitive conversations with youth. High likelihood of recommending the series to a friend or colleague was also reported by participants (0-10). No significant difference in parental comfort levels was reported (p = 0.78 > 0.05). Main themes provided suggestions for improving the series mode of delivery, while others included positive feedback about the material, with the possibility of expanding the series to other adolescent health topics. CONCLUSION: Lessons learned during the design, dissemination, and evaluation of the resource's usability, reach, and perceived impact may be of interest to other Indigenous communities who are in the process of adapting and/or implementing similar approaches.

Assessing the Usability, Appeal, and Impact of a Web-Based Training for Adults Responding to Concerning Posts on Social Media: Pilot Suicide Prevention Study.

BACKGROUND: Suicide prevention remains challenging among youth, as many do not disclose suicidal ideation. Nearly one-third of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI and AN, tribal, or native) youth see concerning messages on social media at least weekly. OBJECTIVE: To prepare adults to support AI and AN youth who post or view concerning messages, our team designed an hour-long training: Responding to Concerning Posts on Social Media. This study tested the usability, appeal, and impact of the training. METHODS: A purposive sample of 70 adults was recruited to participate in the pilot, which included 2 study arms. Arm 1 participants completed a 30-min training video and reviewed accompanying handouts, including the Viewer Care Plan (VCP). The VCP provided a 3-step planning and response tool: (1) Start the Conversation, (2) Listen, Gather Information, and Assess Viewer Experience, and (3) Plan and Act. The intent of the VCP was to support and connect AI and AN youth who either view or post concerning messages on social media to life-saving resources. Those enrolled in arm 2 participated in an additional interactive role-play scenario with a coach that took place after the training, via text message. Participants provided qualitative and quantitative feedback on the training's relevance, appeal, and utility. Paired t tests were used to assess confidence in addressing concerning posts between pre- and postsurveys. Content analysis of the role-play transcripts was used to assess the quality and completion of the coached role-plays, in relation to the recommended VCP. RESULTS: Altogether, 35 participants finished the training and completed pre- and postsurveys; 22 participants completed the 6-month follow-up survey. Pre-post analyses of differences in means found significant improvement across several efficacy measures, including confidence starting a conversation about social media (P=.003), confidence contacting the person who posted something concerning (P<.001), and confidence recommending support services to youth who view (P=.001) or youth who post concerning messages (P<.001). Similarly, pre- to 6-month analyses found significant positive improvement across multiple measures, including confidence contacting the youth who posted (P<.001), confidence starting a conversation about social media with youth (P=.003), and an increase in the number of experiences recommending resources for youth who viewed concerning social media posts (P=.02). Of the 3 steps of the VCP, the least followed step in coached role-plays was sharing tools and resources, which is a part of the third Plan and Act step. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that the Responding to Concerning Posts on Social Media training is a promising tool to prepare adults to intervene and complete the VCP. Additional evaluation with a larger cohort of participants is needed to determine the unique impact of the role-play scenario and changes in mental health referral rates, behaviors, and skills.

Healthy Native Youth: Improving Access to Effective, Culturally-Relevant Sexual Health Curricula.

Tribal health educators across the United States have found it challenging to locate engaging, culturally-relevant sexual health curricula for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth. Healthy Native Youth is a new online resource that provides a "one-stop-shop" for tribal health advocates to access age-appropriate curricula. The site was designed by a team of advisers representing a diverse group of tribal communities, using a collaborative planning process. The website content and navigation was then refined through usability testing with the target audience. The portal allows users to filter and compare curricula on multiple dimensions, including: age, delivery setting, duration, cost, and evidence of effectiveness, to determine best-fit. It includes all materials needed for implementation free-of-charge, including: facilitator training tools, lesson plans, materials to support participant marketing and recruitment, information about each program's cultural relevance, evaluation methods and findings, and references to publications and reports. The website currently includes mCircle of Life, Native It's Your Game, Native STAND, Native VOICES, and Safe in the Village, among others. Since its launch in August 2016, the site has had over 31,000 page views in all 50 States. The Healthy Native Youth portal provides educators in rural communities a promising new tool to support the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based health curricula in geographically-disbursed AI/AN communities. Lessons learned during the design and dissemination of the Healthy Native Youth website may be of value to other Indigenous populations interested in our approach and our findings.

Factors Associated With Early Sexual Experience Among American Indian and Alaska Native Youth.

PURPOSE: American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth experience disparities associated with sexual and reproductive health, including early age of sexual initiation. Identifying factors that are most proximally related to early sexual intercourse and that are modifiable through health promotion interventions may help to reduce these disparities. Using a multisystem approach, we assessed individual (biological, psychological, and behavioral), familial, and extrafamilial (peer behavioral) factors associated with lifetime sexual experience among AI/AN early adolescents living in three geographically dispersed U.S. regions. METHODS: We analyzed cross-sectional data from 537 AI/AN youth aged 12-14 years, recruited from 27 study sites in Alaska, Arizona, and the Pacific Northwest. We used multilevel logistic regression models to estimate associations between independent variables and lifetime sexual intercourse (oral and/or vaginal sex) individually, within discrete systems, and across systems. RESULTS: The analytical sample was 55.1% female, with a mean age of 13.2 years (standard deviation = 1.06 years); 6.5% were sexually experienced. In the final model, we found that lower next-year intentions to have oral or vaginal sex (psychological factors), avoidance of risky situations, and nonuse of alcohol (behavioral factors) were associated with lower odds of lifetime sexual intercourse (all p ≤ .01). No other variables were significantly associated with lifetime sexual intercourse. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions that reduce sexual intentions, exposure to risky situations, and alcohol use may help to delay sexual initiation among AI/AN early adolescents.