Effects of a Worksite Parenting Program
Condition: Adolescent Sexual Risk Behaviors
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Many adolescents in the U.S., even very young adolescents, are engaging in sexual risk
      behaviors that put them at risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unintended
      pregnancy. Studies show that parents can play a significant role in promoting healthy sexual
      development and risk reduction among adolescents. The UCLA/RAND Center for Adolescent Health
      Promotion has developed Talking Parents, Healthy Teens, a worksite-based parenting program
      for parents of adolescents (grades 6-10) to improve parent-adolescent communication and
      reduce adolescent sexual risk behaviors. We are evaluating the effectiveness of the program
      primarily with confidential surveys of the participants before and after the program.
    

Detailed description: 
      Many adolescents in the U.S., even very young adolescents, are engaging in sexual risk
      behaviors that put them at risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unintended
      pregnancy. Studies show that parents can play a significant role in promoting healthy sexual
      development and risk reduction among adolescents. Parenting approaches such as engaging in
      open and responsive communication, providing appropriate levels of supervision, and keeping
      involved in children's lives are associated with better adolescent outcomes. However, many
      parents are uncertain about how to talk with their adolescents about sex. Worksites provide
      an untapped but promising setting in which to reach parents to help them develop parenting
      and communication skills.

      The UCLA/RAND Center for Adolescent Health Promotion has developed a worksite-based parenting
      program for parents of adolescents (grades 6-10) to improve parent-adolescent communication
      and reduce adolescent sexual risk behaviors. Specifically, the Center has developed Talking
      Parents, Healthy Teens for parents with adolescent children to teach communication skills as
      well as basic facts about sex and other important adolescent issues. The program aims to help
      parents understand adolescent development and the changes in adolescents' thoughts and
      feelings about sexual issues and other risk behaviors. It helps parents develop skills for
      discussing sensitive but important topics with their adolescents, and for teaching their
      adolescents decision-making and problem-solving skills. The program also emphasizes the
      importance of parents knowing what is going on in their adolescents' lives (often called
      parental monitoring). Although parents feel a need for help on such issues, they often tend
      to be too busy to attend ongoing programs. Therefore, we bring the program to them at their
      worksite. The program involves groups of about 12-15 parents who meet for an hour at
      lunch-time once a week for eight consecutive weeks. We serve a free lunch during the
      sessions.

      We are evaluating the effectiveness of the Talking Parents, Healthy Teens program primarily
      with confidential surveys of the participants before and after the program. We also ask
      participants' adolescents (who are not in the parenting program) to fill out surveys as well.
      Among parents who initially express interest in the program, we randomize parents after they
      complete their baseline survey into an intervention group that takes the parenting program
      and a control group that does not. Both of these groups fill out confidential surveys over
      the course of several years. After the study has been conducted at a number of worksites, the
      research team will statistically compare survey answers for the two groups to see how well
      the program works. The results of the evaluation will be submitted for publication in
      academic journals.
    

Intervention name(s): Talking Parents, Healthy Teens
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Talking Parents, Healthy Teens is a worksite-based parenting program to help parents of 6th-10th graders learn to promote their adolescents' healthy sexual development. The program is administered in 8 weekly one-hour sessions during the lunch hour to groups of about 15 parents and focuses on parent-adolescent relationships and communication, with an emphasis on promoting sexual health and reducing sexual risk. It is led by a trained facilitator and assistant facilitator.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Adolescence; Sexual health; Communication; Parenting