Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Jul 25;4(1):157-161.
doi: 10.1089/trgh.2018.0062. eCollection 2019.

Recruitment and Enrollment of a National Sample of Transgender Youth via Social Media: Experiences from Project Moxie

Michael Miller-Perusse  1 , Keith J Horvath  2 , Tanaka Chavanduka  1 , Rob Stephenson  1   3
Affiliations

Recruitment and Enrollment of a National Sample of Transgender Youth via Social Media: Experiences from Project Moxie

Michael Miller-Perusse et al. Transgend Health. .

Abstract

This report compares social media strategies for enrolling transgender youth (TY) into online HIV prevention research. Over 12 months, 202 TY enrolled in Project Moxie, a randomized trial of an at-home HIV testing intervention. Free Craigslist advertisements showed promising success in enrolling TY, especially those of color. Paid Facebook advertising was successful in reaching a large sample of TY, as was participant referral. This supports previous literature suggesting peer referral as an effective strategy for reaching TY. High levels of attempted fraud were detected and mitigated. Findings demonstrate that recruitment and enrollment of a diverse TY sample is possible online.

Keywords: HIV; online recruitment; social media; transgender; youth.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No competing financial interests exist.

References

    1. Grossman AH, D'augelli AR. Transgender youth: invisible and vulnerable. J Homosex. 2006;51:111–128 - PubMed
    1. James SE, Herman JL, Rankin S, et al. . The Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey. Washington, DC: National Center for Transgender Equality, 2016
    1. Bull SS, Lloyd L, Rietmeijer C, McFarlane M. Recruitment and retention of an online sample for an HIV prevention intervention targeting men who have sex with men: the smart sex quest project. AIDS Care. 2004;16:931–943 - PubMed
    1. Mustanski BS. Getting wired: exploiting the internet for the collection of valid sexuality data. J Sex Res. 2001;38:292–301
    1. Allison S, Bauermeister JA, Bull S, et al. . The intersection of youth, technology, and new media with sexual health: moving the research agenda forward. J Adolesc Health. 2012;51:207–212 - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources