Abstinence, Sex
Conditions
Brief summary
Alternatives For Girls (AFG's) EmpowHer curriculum is a program for youth who are 10-15 years of age. The curriculum is youth-co-led, and innovative (using online platforms and digitized presentation of material. EmpowHer addresses four adulthood preparation subjects (APS), such as parent-child communication, healthy relationships, adolescent development, and healthy life skills, and can be implemented as an after-school, in/out-of-school-time program.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALThe intervention curriculum addresses sexual activity, abstinence, and adulthood preparation topics.
The intervention is youth-co-led, and targets youth in Detroit, Out-Wayne County or geographically similar areas through a 16-unit curriculum totaling 20 hours. Each participant and their parent/guardian will also receive one individual session with a case planner. Parents will receive 3 hours of parental support group. EmpowHer contains lessons and activities focusing on topics relating to abstinence, and teen pregnancy prevention, focusing on adulthood preparation subjects (APS), such as parent-child communication, adolescent development, healthy life skills, and healthy relationships.
Sponsors
Alternatives For Girls
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
10 Years to 15 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Youth who are 10 -15 years of age at the start of the study and residing in Detroit, Outer-Wayne County or geographically similar areas at the time of enrollment will be eligible to participate in the study.
Exclusion criteria
Participants who are currently utilizing other services from Alternatives For Girls (AFG), children of AFG staff and youth participating in other sexual health education programs will not be eligible to participate and will be wait-listed until they are no longer receiving other services from AFG (i.e., after-school programs, summer day camps, mentoring, youth leadership programs, and shelter services). These services are unrelated to the study/sexual health education and do not include EmpowHer or Sassy Science. If siblings were to be enrolled, one would be randomly assigned, and the rest would be allowed to participate in the same group as the study sibling but not counted in the evaluation. This is to prevent possible contamination between conditions.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Recent sexual activity | At 9-month follow up. | Do participants in the curriculum model (EmpowHer) show reduced rates of sexual activity at 9-month follow up compared to those in a control curriculum (Sassy Science)? |
| Abstinence | At 9-month follow up. | Do participants in the curriculum model (EmpowHer) show increased rates of abstinence at (a) 6-month follow-up, and (b) 9-month follow up compared to those in control curriculum (Sassy Science)? |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Healthy relationship knowledge | After 20-hour intervention (at post-test). | Do participants in the curriculum model (EmpowHer) show increased healthy relationship knowledge at post-test compared to those in a control curriculum (Sassy Science)? |
Countries
United States
Contacts
Primary ContactCelia Thomas, DHA
Outcome results
None listed