Young Women's CoOp Study

This study completed an extensive formative phase to adapt the Women's CoOp intervention to
specifically address the needs of young out-of-school adolescent African-American females
with regard to knowledge about sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV and sexuality,
health consequences of substance abuse, relationships with males, condom communication and
social support, and HIV risk-reduction and violence prevention methods. During this phase,
in-depth interviews, focus groups, pretesting and pilot testing were conducted to adapt and
refine the intervention for the clinical trial.

The aim of this trial are to:

• Evaluate the efficacy of the cultural-, age-, and gender-focused intervention (Young
Women's CoOp) relative to an equal attention control nutrition intervention in terms of
changes in behaviors (e.g., condom use, substance use, violence prevention).

At study enrollment/baseline, participants complete a questionnaire and baseline drug and
pregnancy testing, and then are randomized into one of two programs: Young Women's CoOp or
Staying Healthy and Eating Well (Nutrition)—both which include 3 individual intervention
sessions and 1 group activity. Follow-ups are conducted 3-months post-intervention and
6-months post-intervention and include a questionnaire and drug testing.