Advisor(s)

Olivio Clay

Committee Member(s)

Kathyrn Kaiser
Robert Sorge
Susan Davies
Tamika Smith

Document Type

Dissertation

Date of Award

1-27-2026

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

School

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Background: Edutainment interventions were developed to increase knowledge, to influence people’s attitudes and behaviors toward sexual, social and public health issues, and to promote behavior change. This current study implemented an edutainment intervention to examine its effectiveness on increasing HIV knowledge, reducing HIV-related stigma, and increasing condom use self-efficacy among Black/African American Emerging Adults in Birmingham, AL. Methods: This current study used longitudinal data from the City Health-II intervention for secondary data analyses to compare baseline, 3-month, and 6-month follow-up data for the intervention and control groups. Three hundred twenty-six participants were recruited via respondent-driven sampling. Researchers enlisted eight musicians/artists (some solo, some groups) to help create an educational and entertaining web-based video series entitled, “The Beat HIVe.” The intervention group received the full HIV educational and entertainment videos, while the control group received the entertainment part of the video only. Analyses: Linear Mixed Effect Models were conducted to examine the longitudinal trajectories of the outcome variables (HIV Knowledge, HIV-related stigma, and CUSE). Results: The intervention group had significant higher scores on HIV knowledge than those in the control group, t = 5.138, p = <.001. Additionally, females had an average HIV Knowledge score that was 1.25 points higher than males, t = 4.134, p <.001. There was not a statistically significant difference on the CUSE scores between the intervention and control group, t = .306, p = .760. Females had an average CUSE score that was .803 points higher than males, t = 1.978, p =.049. There was a statistically significant effect of time, t = 2.262, p = .025 specifying a significant increase in CUSE over time. The intervention group had significant lower scores on HIV-related stigma than those in the control group, t = -2.251, p = .012. Conclusion: The results revealed the intervention was effective in reducing HIV-related stigma and in increasing HIV Knowledge. Using web-based videos as an informational tool can be an extremely useful resource when trying to educate individuals on HIV.

Keywords

HIV-Knowledge Condom Use Self-Efficacy HIV-related stigma edutainment Alabama Black/African American Emerging Adults

ProQuest Publication Number

32287028

ISBN

9798273379749

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