Evaluation of Manhood 2.0: A Community-Based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program for Young Men

Summary

Manhood 2.0 is a male-only group-level intervention, delivered over 13 hours, based on social cognitive theory, social norm theory, theory of gender and power, and the theory of reasoned action. The intervention is a gender-transformative program that promotes critical reflection and awareness on reproductive health, healthy relationships, gender norms and stereotypes that drive reproductive health behavior, and explicit and proactive support of female partner contraceptive use. Activities include group discussion, role playing, knowledge sharing, and skill-building; their purpose is to challenge young men to think critically about social expectations and restrictive norms, engage in dialogue about these gender norms, and then assess the way rigid norms affect their attitudes and behaviors toward a number of key issues, including intimate relationships, gender-based violence, substance abuse, sexually transmitted infections, and early pregnancy. Young men receive the intervention at a local community center or high school. Comparison condition young men receive a post-high school readiness program that does not discuss gender norms or sexual and reproductive health. The study was conducted with six cohorts of eligible young men ages 15-18 who received a baseline, immediate post-intervention, and three-month post-intervention survey. To participate in the study, individuals had to meet all the following criteria: (1) Identify as male; (2) Ages 15 to 18; (3) Not actively planning a pregnancy with someone; (4) Never participated in the community center's sexual and reproductive health program; (5) Received no additional sexual or reproductive health programming in the last three months; (6) Able to participate in a program delivered in English only.

The investigators hypothesized that Manhood 2.0 participants would have lower rates of unprotected sex and more equitable attitudes towards gender than comparison participants.

Conditions

• Sexual Behavior
• Unprotected Sex

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Manhood 2.0

Manhood 2.0 engages young men in questioning, challenging, and transforming harmful gender norms, with the goal of reducing intimate partner and sexual violence and unintended teen pregnancy. Manhood 2.0 is a male-only group-level intervention, based on social cognitive theory, social norm theory, theory of gender and power, and the theory of reasoned action. Activities include group discussion, role playing, knowledge sharing, and skill-building; their purpose is to challenge young men to think critically about social expectations and restrictive norms, engage in dialogue about these gender norms, and then assess the way rigid norms affect their attitudes and behaviors toward key issues, including intimate relationships, gender-based violence, substance abuse, sexually transmitted infections, and early pregnancy. Sessions are two hours long and occur once a week for seven weeks.

BEHAVIORAL

Post-High School Readiness

Post-High School Readiness program helps young men prepare for life after high school. This includes helping them prepare resumes, learning how to apply to jobs or colleges, providing interview prep, and other life skills. It is a male-only group-level program that includes discussion, feedback, knowledge sharing, and skill-building; their purpose is to prepare young men for life after high school. Sessions are two hours long and occur once a week for seven weeks.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Promundo, United States

  collaborator OTHER

• Latin American Youth Center

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Child Trends

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jennifer Manlove, PhD · Child Trends

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

15 Years

Max Age

18 Years

Sex

MALE

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-11-01

Primary Completion

2018-07-31

Completion

2018-07-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations