The Center for Innovative Public Health Research has developed two sexual health programs for guys who are into guys. You are being asked to take part in the randomized controlled trial of the two programs to see which one is better at helping guys make healthy sexual choices.

You may qualify for this study if you are a teen guy who is into guys.

Once enrolled, participation involves the following:

• Complete an online survey and an HIV test before you start the program. We will mail you the test. You can do it anywhere and anytime that is safe for you. We ask you to upload a picture of the test results to our secure study server so that we are on the same page regarding your results. Only the research team will have access to the picture; we take your privacy seriously.
• Once you finish the survey and upload your test results, you will be officially enrolled. You will receive between 5-10 text messages every day for 9 weeks. You may also be randomly matched to a “text buddy”, another guy in this study, who you will be able to talk to about the things that you are learning in the program.
• After 9 weeks, the daily text messages will stop, and we will ask you to complete another online survey.
• We will then send you a couple of texts per week for the next 3 months.
• After that, you will receive a “review week” where you will receive 5-10 messages again each day. After the review week, we will send you another HIV test and a survey link and ask you to upload your test results and do the online survey.
• Over the next 12 months, we will ask you to do 4 more online surveys, once every 3 months. At 12 months, as part of your last survey, we will send you a final HIV test and ask you to upload a picture of the results to the secure Project SHAG server.

Yes, qualifying participants will receive compensation for their time. 

The only cost for you to take part in this study will be the costs that you already pay for text messaging and going online.