Condomless Sex, Sexual Assault
Conditions
Keywords
online intervention, digital health, sexual consent, condom use, condom negotiation, LGBTQ health, adolescents
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness, likability, and implementation potential of PACT, an adapted digital program to teach non-heterosexual adolescent boys about sexual consent and condom negotiation in a randomized controlled trial over 9 months.
Detailed description
Because the PACT (Promoting Affirmative Consent among Teens) digital health intervention showed evidence of effectiveness at improving sexual consent cognitions in its first trial, and was found generally likable among adolescents, the research team has adapted the program to serve as sexual assertiveness (consent and condom negotiation) training. This adapted version is tailored to the specific needs of adolescent sexual minority males (ASMM), a population that has been historically underserved by traditional sex education while also experiencing disproportionately high rates of both sexual violence victimization and condom non-use. The evaluation of the adapted PACT program (now titled Promoting Assertive Communication among Teens) will take place in an RCT with a Type 1 effectiveness-implementation hybrid design. Surveys will be administered at pre-intervention, post-intervention, 3-month follow-up, and 9-month follow-up. The investigators will assess acceptability, implementation factors, and main and secondary outcomes related to consent and condom negotiation/use.
Interventions
OTHERPromoting Assertive Communication among Teens (PACT)
See Arm Description
OTHERHealthy Minds
See Arm Description
Sponsors
North Carolina Agriculture & Technical State University
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Intervention model description
PACT (Promoting Assertive Communication among Teens) is a brief online (web-based) educational program that can be taken on participants' personal devices.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
14 Years to 17 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* 14-17 years old * lives in the U.S. * identifies as a queer teen guy or sexual minority male
Exclusion criteria
* younger than 14 * older than 17 * does not live in U.S. * does not identify as a queer teen guy or sexual minority male
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Condom negotiation intentions | Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 3 months, 9 months | Participants' likelihood of using a condom during sexual intercourse with a partner |
| Affirmative consent intentions | Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 3 months, 9 months | Participants' likelihood of 1) ensuring consent is obtained from a partner prior to sexual intercourse and 2) communicating their consent affirmatively to a partner prior to intercourse |
| Condom negotiation self-efficacy | Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 3 months, 9 months | Participants' confidence in their ability to assert their desire to use a condom with a partner (5-point likert, strongly disagree to strongly agree, higher scores = higher self-efficacy) |
| Affirmative consent self-efficacy | Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 3 months, 9 months | Participants' confidence in their ability to communicate sexual consent with a partner (4-point likert, "not at all confident" to "very confident", higher scores = higher self-efficacy) |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Condom use | Baseline, 3 months, 9 months | Behavioral outcome measuring whether a condom was used for sexual intercourse |
| Condom negotiation | Baseline, 3 months, 9 months | Behavioral outcome measuring discussion about condom use prior to sexual intercourse |
| Affirmative consent communication | Baseline, 3 months, 9 months | Behavioral outcome measuring affirmative consent communication before and during sexual intercourse |
| Condom attitudes | Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 3 months, 9 months | Participants' beliefs about the importance of condom use (items from the Condom Attitudes scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree, higher scores = more positive attitudes) |
| Affirmative consent attitudes | Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 3 months, 9 months | Participants' beliefs about the importance of affirmative consent (items from the Sexual Consent Scale-Revised, strongly disagree to strongly agree, higher scores = more positive attitudes) |
| Condom norms | Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 3 months, 9 months | Participants' personal and perceived norms about condom use (condom norms items from the Psychosocial Scales, higher score = more positive norms) |
| Affirmative consent norms | Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 3 months, 9 months | Participants' personal and perceived norms about affirmative consent (Norms items from Sexual Consent Scale-Revised, strongly disagree to strongly agree, higher scores = more positive norms) |
| Acceptability | Immediately post-intervention | Participants' perceptions of the likability and usefulness of the program (items adapted from Acceptability of Intervention measure, "not at all" to "a lot", higher scores = higher acceptability) |
Countries
United States
Contacts
CONTACTHannah Javidi, PhD
CONTACTEric Walsh-Buhi, PhD, MPH
Outcome results
None listed