Testing the Effectiveness of Relationship Smarts and the Effects of Enhanced Facilitator Training

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This project will test the effectiveness of offering healthy marriage and relation education for youth as part of the regular school curriculum and examine whether providing enhanced training and support for facilitators shows promise for enhancing the effects on high school students. The evaluation will examine a range of students' relationship outcomes, including their attitudes toward relationships, their knowledge of healthy relationships, their communication skills, and the characteristics of their current relationship.

Detailed Description
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Family Bridges will deliver the Relationship Smarts + program to students at 10 Chicago-area high schools. The RS+ curriculum will be delivered to 9th grade students in the target schools and classrooms during the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school years. The curriculum's 12 sessions will be delivered over a period of about 12 weeks during the winter quarter, with an average of one session taught per week.The lessons cover topics such as personal values, the principals of smart relationships, communication and conflict management, and sexual decision making. Using a three-arm randomized controlled trial design, this study will test the effectiveness of offering RS+ as part of the regular school curriculum on the students' knowledge of healthy relationships, their communication skills, and the characteristics of their current relationship. In addition to testing the effects of the curriculum, the study will also test the effects of providing enhanced training and support to facilitators.

Official Title
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Testing the Effectiveness of Relationship Smarts Curriculum and the Effects of Enhanced Facilitator Training

Conditions
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Knowledge, Attitude

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: RS+
* Behavioral: Codeacademy


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Students must be age 17 or younger have consent from a parent or guardian for evaluation activities provide assent for evaluation activities. Exclusion Criteria: Students in evaluation classrooms who do not meet these criteria will still receive programming, but will not be included in the STREAMS data collection activities or in the study's analysis.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Maximum Age: 17 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Placebo Comparator: Control<br>Control group members will receive an alternate curriculum that is not related to relationship education. Family Bridges has identified a computer programming curriculum, Codeacademy, that teaches students how to use HTML. | Behavioral: Codeacademy<br>* a computer programming curriculum, Codeacademy, that teaches students how to use HTML.<br>|
| Experimental: RS+<br>The RS+ curriculum's 12 sessions will be delivered over a period of about 12 weeks during the winter quarter, with an average of one session taught per week. The lessons cover topics such as personal values, the principals of smart relationships, communication and conflict management, and sexual decision making. | Behavioral: RS+<br>* The curriculum's 12 sessions will be delivered over a period of about 12 weeks during the winter quarter, with an average of one session taught per week. The lessons cover topics such as personal values, the principals of smart relationships, communication and conflict management, and sexual decision making.<br>|
| Experimental: RS+ with enhanced facilitator support<br>The RS+ curriculum's 12 sessions will be delivered over a period of about 12 weeks during the winter quarter, with an average of one session taught per week. The lessons cover topics such as personal values, the principals of smart relationships, communication and conflict management, and sexual decision making. Affiliates assigned to this enhanced treatment group will participate in enhanced facilitator training and support activities. | Behavioral: RS+<br>* The curriculum's 12 sessions will be delivered over a period of about 12 weeks during the winter quarter, with an average of one session taught per week. The lessons cover topics such as personal values, the principals of smart relationships, communication and conflict management, and sexual decision making.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Knowledge about Healthy Relationships | audio computer-assisted self-administered interviewing (ACASI) software on tablet devices. | end of programming (approx. 12 weeks after beginning of programming ) | 
| Attitudes about Healthy Relationships | audio computer-assisted self-administered interviewing (ACASI) software on tablet devices. | end of programming (approx. 12 weeks after beginning of programming ) | 
| Knowledge about Healthy Relationships | audio computer-assisted self-administered interviewing (ACASI) software on tablet devices. | 1 year follow-up | 
| Attitudes about Healthy Relationships | audio computer-assisted self-administered interviewing (ACASI) software on tablet devices. | 1 year follow-up | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Communications skills | audio computer-assisted self-administered interviewing (ACASI) software on tablet devices. | end of programming (approx. 12 weeks after beginning of programming ) | 
| Characteristics of current romantic relationship | audio computer-assisted self-administered interviewing (ACASI) software on tablet devices. | end of programming (approx. 12 weeks after beginning of programming ) | 
| Communications skills | audio computer-assisted self-administered interviewing (ACASI) software on tablet devices. | 1 year follow-up | 
| Characteristics of current romantic relationship | audio computer-assisted self-administered interviewing (ACASI) software on tablet devices. | 1 year follow-up |