The HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States has expanded to affect an increasing number of populations, with those in the African American community being one of the most severely affected. The purpose of this presentation is to examine contemporary HIV/AIDS interventions targeting African American adolescents. A search of CINAHL, ERIC, Gender Studies, and MEDLINE databases was conducted for articles published in United States between 1992 and 2006. Fourteen interventions met the inclusion criteria of which eight were community-based, three were family-based and three were school-based. Most interventions focused on 6th through 10th grades which seems logical as the average age of initiating sexual intercourse among adolescents is 16 years and 13 years in African Americans. Of the community-based interventions four out of seven found significant behavior change (one did not assess). In the family based interventions one out of two interventions found significant behavior change (one did not assess). Finally, in school-based interventions two out of the three interventions were successful in changing behavior. Most of the interventions, 10 out of 14, were based on behavioral theories, with social cognitive theory being the most prevalent. Interventions that adequately reified theories were more effective than the ones that did not use theories. In terms of duration it was found that the more frequent the intervention was the more likely it was associated with behavior change. The components of the interventions included culturally specific materials, African American facilitators, and gender sensitivity. HIV/AIDS knowledge, risk reduction strategies, behavioral skills, condom use, self-efficacy, decision-making and goal setting were the main foci of the interventions. Behavioral change was found in seven of the interventions. Recommendations for enhancing the success of these interventions are discussed. It is important to discuss prevention methods which have been implemented, as well as why they did or did not work. Health educators should be aware of the program efforts that are currently out there as well as those which have been implemented in the past. There is no use in reinventing the wheel. Using others' successes and failures will strengthen the efforts of current health educators. Learning objectives At the end of the presentation the participants will be able to: 1. Identify important behavioral antecedents to prevent HIV/AIDS in African American adolescents. 2. Describe the strengths and weaknesses of current HIV/AIDS prevention interventions in African American adolescents. 3. Develop an educational HIV/AIDS prevention intervention for adolescent African American adolescents. Keyword(s): community-based programs, disease prevention/wellness, health education K-12