LEONARD ET AL. SUCCESSFUL RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION SUCCESSFUL RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF PARTICIPANTS IN LONGITUDINAL BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH Noelle R. Leonard, Patricia Lester, Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus, Kathy Mattes, Marya Gwadz, and Bill Ferns Longitudinal behavioral research with underserved and HIV-affected popula- tions presents enormous challenges to community researchers. Recruitment and retention of participants into intervention trials is vital for the development of empirically validated treatments and prevention programs. Successful recruit- ment and retention of participants is highly dependent on an effective structural and motivational system designed to engage and reward individuals at every level of the investigation, including community organizations, project managers, field staff, and participants. This article outlines some of the key elements in developing and maintaining high quality research efforts. Recruitment and retention of underserved and HIV-affected populations into behav- ioral research studies, particularly those involving interventions, is difficult. For pop- ulations that have been historically understudied, such as runaway youth, other homeless persons, or ethnic minorities, monitoring the impact of mental health care interventions over time is especially challenging. Longitudinal studies for prevention trials depend largely on the ability of the research team to manage the inherent obsta- cles of participant recruitment and subsequent retention (Glasgow, Bull, Gillette, Klesges, & Dzewaltowski, 2002). Recruitment of a representative study population influences the external validity of prevention trials, while participant retention is a critical factor in the maintenance of internal validity. Over the last 12 years, the UCLA Center for Community Health has done eight successful intervention trials with 269 AIDS Education and Prevention, 15(3), 269–281, 2003 © 2003 The Guilford Press Noelle Leonard and Marya Gwadz are with the Institute for AIDS Research, National Development and Research Institutes, New York. Patricia Lester, Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus, and Kathy Mattes are with the Department of Psychiatry, Center for HIV Prevention, Identification, and Treatment Services, University of California Los Angeles. Bill Ferns is with the Department of Statistics/Computer Information Systems, Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, City University of New York. This paper was completed with the support of National Institute of Mental Health grants K-23 #MH02050-03, ROI MH49958-04 and P30MH58107. We wish to thank the parents, caregivers, and ado- lescents who participated in these studies, as well as those who assisted, including, Coleen Cantwell, Susan Cantwell, Tri Cisek, Linda Cisek, Betty Crenshaw, Darlene Dowling, Amy Elkavich, Jen Elliott, Earl Foss, Marilyn Franklin, Laura Franzke, Melissa Ilardi, Nionne James, Patrice Lewis, David Litke, Sanna Moore, Maria Elena Ramos, Nim Tottenham, Betsy Turner, Whitney Wright, and our interviewers and group lead- ers. Address correspondence to Patricia Lester, M.D., 10920 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 350, Los Angeles, CA 90024-6521; e-mail: plester@mednet.ucla.edu