Clinical trial NCT02832856: Testing the Effectiveness of the Full and Abridged Relationship Smarts Curriculum for 9th Grade Students
Official title: Testing the Effectiveness of the Full and Abridged Versions of the Relationship Smarts Curriculum for 9th Grade Students
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Attitudes
Knowledge
Lead sponsor: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Department of Health and Human Services
First posted: 2016-07-14
Enrollment: 1180
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 11
Maximum age (years): 16
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: This evaluation will test the program effectiveness of a relationship education program (Relationship Smarts PLUS)and an abridged version of the program to 9th Grade Students on outcomes of knowledge. It will test 1) whether the Relationship Smarts (RS) Curriculum is more effective than a control curriculum of job-readiness programming, and 2) whether an abridged 8-lesson version of the RS Curriculum can be as effective as the full 12-lesson version.

Detailed description: MTCI plans to deliver the Relationship Smarts PLUS (RS+) education curriculum to youth in high schools during the regular school day. RS+ is a widely-implemented healthy relationship education curriculum that aligns with the Georgia Department of Education performance standards in health education. The curriculum features 12 lessons covering such topics as healthy relationships, dating violence prevention, communication skills, conflict management, and decision making. MORE THAN CONQUERORS, INC. (MTCI) plans to deliver the curriculum to 9th grade students as part of a required, semester-long health class. The program will be delivered by trained facilitators from MTCI in coordination with each participating school.

To be eligible to participate, students must be enrolled in one of the targeted health classes and have permission from a parent or guardian to participate in both the MATURE Plus II program and the STREAMS evaluation.The study plans to enroll 1,840 students over the entire two-year evaluation period.

At the start of each semester, the targeted sections of 9th grade health class will be randomly assigned into one of three research groups: (1) a group that receives the full, 12-lesson RS+ curriculum, (2) a group that receives a "summary" 8-lesson version of the RS+ curriculum and four lessons on career planning and job readiness, or (3) a control group that receives lessons on career planning and job readiness without any lessons from the RS+ curriculum.

All students for whom consent and assent have been obtained will be asked to complete three surveys: (1) a baseline survey administered in health class near the start of the semester, (2) a post-program survey administered in health class near the end of the semester, and (3) a one-year follow-up survey administered about 12 months after the baseline survey, during 10th grade

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* high school students in 9th grade health classes
* must be enrolled in one of the targeted health classes
* permission from a parent or guardian to participate in both the program and the evaluation

Exclusion Criteria:

* non-students
* students in other grades of high school
* students not enrolled in health class
* students without parental permission to participate

Primary outcomes:
measure: Perceived general relationship skills
timeFrame: one year after random assignment
measure: Perceived conflict management skills
timeFrame: one year after random assignment
measure: Disapproval of teen dating violence
timeFrame: one year after random assignment
measure: Constraining beliefs about marriage
timeFrame: one year after random assignment
measure: Knowledge of pregnancy and STIs
timeFrame: one year after random assignment
measure: Desire to avoid teen pregnancy
timeFrame: one year after random assignment
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Conyers
country: United States
facility: More Than Conquerors, Inc.
state: Georgia
Study officials:
affiliation: Mathematica Policy Research
name: Brian Goesling, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: