Evaluation of the Healthy Relationships Plus Program for Youth

Summary

Adolescent risk behaviours, such as violence and substance use, are prevalent public health concerns in Canada. Further, these behaviours often co-occur, and are associated with poor mental health. However, the majority of prevention programs focus on preventing single issues and do not consider mental health, and also neglect the importance of relationships when promoting positive youth development. To address this gap, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Centre for Prevention Science designed the Fourth R Healthy Relationships Plus Program, a small group program focused on the promotion of positive mental health and the reduction of violence and substance use, via the development of improved communication, interpersonal and help-seeking skills. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the Fourth R Healthy Relationships Plus program using both outcome (randomized controlled trial design with follow-up at pre-test, post-test, and 4, 8 and 12 months) and process evaluation tools.

The primary study hypothesis is that participation in the Fourth R Healthy Relationships Plus program will be associated with positive growth in treatment participants' psychological well-being from pre-test to 12-month follow-up, as compared to control participants. In secondary analyses, the study will explore if treatment participants report less substance use, peer violence, bullying and dating violence at 12-month follow-up than control participants. Since certain person-level (e.g., sex, personality, executive functioning) and program-level (e.g., implementation quality) variables may moderate treatment-outcome relationships, these associations will also be explored. The final hypothesis is that treatment participants will report better attitudes, knowledge and assertive communication at post-test compared to control participants, and that these improvements will mediate the association between program participation and 12-month outcomes.

Conditions

• Mental Health Wellness 1

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Healthy Relationships Plus Program (HRPP)

The Healthy Relationships Plus Program (HRPP) is an out-of-school time program that is facilitated by a teacher or other youth leader. HRPP sessions use interactive teaching strategies to discuss healthy relationships, dating violence, personal values/boundaries, communication skills, emotional health and well-being, and helping friends.

BEHAVIORAL

Control Condition (Classroom Activities)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• CAMH Foundation

  collaborator OTHER

• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• David A Wolfe, PhD · Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

14 Years

Max Age

17 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2014-03-31

Primary Completion

2015-08-31

Completion

2015-08-31

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations