Evaluation of Are You Ready?

Summary

The goal of this randomized trial is to learn if the Are You Ready? (AYR) intervention has a positive impact on the sexual and mental health behaviors of sexually active youth between the ages of 14 and 22 years old who are at risk for or involved in the juvenile justice and/or child welfare systems. The primary research questions it aims to answer are:

* Three months after being offered the intervention, does AYR impact youth's receipt of sexually transmitted infection testing in the past three months?
* Three months after being offered the intervention, does AYR impact youth's use of coping skills?
* Nine months after being offered the intervention, does AYR impact youth's frequency of having vaginal and anal sex without condoms in the past three months?

Researchers will compare participants randomized to receive AYR (treatment group) to participants randomized to receive a control condition that contains no sexual or reproductive health information (control group).

Participants randomized to the treatment group will be offered AYR as a virtual or in-person, 2.5 hour group session. Participants randomized to the control group will be offered a virtually delivered control condition.

Conditions

• Teen Pregnancy Prevention

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Are You Ready? (AYR)

AYR is a group-based entertainment education (EE) intervention designed for sexually active youth who are at risk for or involved in the juvenile justice and/or child welfare systems. AYR is delivered in one, 2.5-hour (150-minute) session with a group of between 2 to 20 youth. The session includes screening a 40-minute video, "Happy Birthday, Leonard" and group-based discussions led by one to two facilitators. Discussions are guided by a participant workbook with journal prompts and handouts. The session includes two modules; each module involves screening approximately 20 minutes of "Happy Birthday, Leonard" followed by a 40-minute group discussion. Module 1 includes topics related to contraception, condom use (with a condom demonstration), healthy communication, and stress management. Module 2 includes topics related to condom negotiation, communication styles, and intergenerational cycles.

BEHAVIORAL

Social Media Awareness Shorts (SMAS)

SMAS is a virtually delivered, individual-based health program focused on social media use awareness. Participants are directed to a learning management platform that contains a pre-recorded, facilitated program. The program involves watching several short films and independently completing several activities related to social media use. The program does not include information related to the primary outcomes for this study.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Department of Health and Human Services

  collaborator FED

• Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

  collaborator OTHER

• Reproductive Health National Training Center

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Institute of Women & Ethnic Studies

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• The Policy & Research Group

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Sarah Walsh, PhD · The Policy & Research Group

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

14 Years

Max Age

22 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-11-15

Primary Completion

2028-08-31

Completion

2028-09-14

Countries

• United States

Study Locations