Evaluation of Parent Toolkit 2.0 (Morehouse Family Health Study)

Description

Child Trends, in partnership with the Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), will implement Parent Toolkit 2.0. The Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential developed the Parent Toolkit intervention and Morehouse School of Medicine’s (MSM) Health Promotion Research Center tested and adapted it through an OPA Innovation Network grant.

Child Trends plans to conduct an individual randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness of Parent Toolkit 2.0 in delaying sexual initiation and increasing contraceptive use among youth who engage in sexual activity. Youth outcomes are expected to improve as a result of the expansion of parental knowledge and improvement of parent-teen communication about adolescent health, sexual health, and relationships. Associated outcomes will be measured through two surveys, one of which will be distributed immediately after the intervention ends while the other will be administered nine months after the end of the intervention.

The intended population is youth ages 12-15 living in rural and micropolitan areas in central, north, and southeast Georgia, and their parents or caregivers. A “caregiver” in this context is defined as someone who lives with the child at least 50 percent of the time and who is one of the main people responsible for the child. The parents or caregivers will be the program participants since they are the intended recipients of all intervention-related resources such as the toolkit, videos, and group-based virtual sessions. By contrast, the youth enrolled in the study will not directly engage in the programming.

As a part of this study, treatment group parent/caregiver participants will be asked to:

* Review a self-paced parent guide and four videos modeling parent-teen communication on Canvas
* Attend two 1-hour group sessions with other parents
* Complete baseline and post-intervention surveys
* Participate in an optional focus group discussion

Control group parent/caregiver participants will be asked to:

* Review a self-paced parent guide on Canvas
* Complete baseline and post-intervention surveys
* Participate in an optional focus group discussion

Treatment and control group youth participants will be asked to:

* Complete baseline, post-intervention, and nine-month follow-up surveys
* Participate in an optional focus group discussion