Evaluation of the Making Proud Choices! Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program
Condition: Teen Pregnancy Prevention
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Under contract to the Office of Population Affairs (OPA), Mathematica is conducting an impact
      study of the Making Proud Choices! (MPC) teen pregnancy prevention program. The impact study
      is designed to estimate the impact of MPC, compared to the business-as-usual condition, on
      risk and protective factors, sexual behaviors, and longer term health goals including
      pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
    

Detailed description: 
      This evaluation used a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) design to assess the
      effectiveness of MPC, with schools within districts randomly assigned to one of two
      conditions: (1) MPC implemented by health educators, or (2) business as usual. In total, 31
      school clusters were randomly assigned to condition, including roughly 2800 students, in four
      geographic areas across the U.S.

      The study was implemented over the course of three school years (2016-17, 2017-18 and
      2018-19), with youth in each year considered a separate evaluation cohort, and with
      participating schools (and new cohorts of eligible youth) randomized to condition each year.

      There are two main sources of data for this study: outcome and implementation data. Youth in
      the study completed two waves of self-report surveys: (1) a baseline survey administered
      before programming began, and (2) a follow-up outcome survey administered approximately six
      months after the end of programming (approximately 9 months after baseline, on average). The
      surveys measured antecedents to sexual behavior (risk and protective factors), sexual
      behaviors, and ultimately, MPC's health goals of reducing sexually transmitted infections and
      teen pregnancies. Program implementation data included fidelity and attendance logs,
      observations, interviews, study youth focus groups, staff surveys, and technical assistance
      logs.

      The benchmark analytic approach for estimating program impacts focuses on individuals with
      observed (non-missing) outcome data, and will statistically adjust for several baseline and
      location variables to produce credible and precise estimates of program effectiveness.
      Several sensitivity analyses will be conducted to understand the robustness of the findings
      across alternative specifications, and to understand the effect of MPC across a variety of
      subgroups.
    

Intervention name(s): Making Proud Choices; Business as usual
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: The MPC curriculum aims to provide adolescents with the information and tools they need to reduce their risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), HIV, and pregnancy. The curriculum emphasizes abstinence as the safest choice for avoiding pregnancy and STDs, but also encourages youth to use condoms and other methods of birth control if they do have sex. The curriculum includes video clips, student role-playing activities, and group discussions. It also involves skill-building activities for correct condom use, refusal techniques, and safer-sex negotiation, and opportunities for students to practice these skills.
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention