Evaluation of the WiseGuyz Program for Adolescent Boys

NCT ID: NCT03994016

Last Updated: 2024-12-05

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

437 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2019-09-15

Study Completion Date

2024-06-30

Brief Summary

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Adolescent dating violence (ADV) is a pressing public health problem in North America, and strategies to prevent perpetration are needed. To this end, a substantial body of research demonstrates the importance of applying a gender lens to target root causes of ADV. To date, however, there has been limited research on how to specifically engage boys in ADV prevention. As such, this protocol describes the evaluation of a program called WiseGuyz, a community-facilitated, gender-transformative healthy relationships program for mid-adolescent (\~ages 13-15) male-identified youth. WiseGuyz aims to reduce male-perpetrated ADV, and improve mental and sexual health, by helping participants identify and deconstruct male gender role norms, and explore healthier, more inclusive ways of being a guy in the world. The primary goal of this evaluation is to explore the impact of WiseGuyz on ADV outcomes among mid-adolescent male-identified youth, using a mixed-methods, longitudinal, quasi-experimental design with a matched comparison group.

Detailed Description

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Study Design and Overview:

In this project, the investigators will examine the association between participation in the WiseGuyz program and ADV outcomes. The investigators will use a mixed-methods, quasi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test and one-year follow-up surveys, engaging participants from two Western Canadian school divisions. Through focus groups with youth participants, the investigators will contextualize quantitative survey data, to deepen understanding of how WiseGuyz may promote the prevention of ADV.

Participants:

The investigators plan to recruit approximately 700-800 grade nine male-identified youth in 7 participating schools.

Procedures:

The investigators will make presentations on the research project to all grade 9 youth at participating schools. Any male-identified youth in grade 9 is welcome to participate, regardless of their involvement with WiseGuyz. Interested participants will need to provide signed parent/guardian consent (paper or electronic) and themselves complete an assent form to participate in the research. Quantitative data will be collected in three cohorts (Cohort One - pre-test: October 2019; post-test: May 2020; one-year follow-up: May 2021; Cohort Two - pre-test: October 2021; post-test: May 2022; one-year follow-up: May 2023; Cohort Three - pre-test: October 2022; post-test: May 2023; one-year follow-up: May 2024). An additional cohort needed to be added due to COVID-19 related study disruptions in 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22.

The investigators will gather qualitative focus group data from approximately 60 WiseGuyz participants immediately post-intervention. Cohort One focus groups will occur in May 2020, Cohort Two focus groups will occur in May 2021. The investigators will also interview school leadership in Spring 2021. \*note: due to COVID-19 disruptions, focus groups/interviews will only occur with Cohort 3 in Spring 2023\*

To understand program implementation, implementation tracking data will be collected at the start of the program year, immediately following each WiseGuyz session, at the end of each WiseGuyz module, and at the end of the program year. The investigators will collect these data from October 2019-May 2023.

Conditions

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Violence, Gender-Based

Keywords

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Adolescent dating violence Positive mental health Sexual health

Study Design

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Allocation Method

NON_RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

WiseGuyz' integrated and sequential curriculum is comprised of four core modules and 20 sessions per module. Sessions are a mix of targeted education, group discussion, and skills development (e.g., role play). The sequence of the modules is critical as each module builds into the next. The modules are:

Module 1: Healthy Relationships (6 sessions) Module 2: Sexual Health (5 sessions) Module 3: Gender, Sexuality and the Media (5 sessions) Module 4: Advocacy and Leadership (4 sessions)
Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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WiseGuyz Participant

Individuals in this arm will receive the WiseGuyz program in their grade 9 year.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

WiseGuyz

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

The WiseGuyz program was developed by the Centre for Sexuality (Calgary, AB), and aims to reduce male-perpetrated adolescent dating violence, improve mental and sexual health, and support youth to build healthier, more inclusive relationships in their peer groups, schools and communities, by helping participants identify and deconstruct gender role norms.

WiseGuyz is offered during instructional time by community-based facilitators from the Centre for Sexuality. WiseGuyz is comprised of 20 sessions across four modules. These sessions typically take the full school year (September-May) to implement.

Comparison Participant

Individuals in this arm will not receive any intervention in their grade 9 year, and will be used to create a matched comparison group for individuals in Arm 1 (WiseGuyz Participants).

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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WiseGuyz

The WiseGuyz program was developed by the Centre for Sexuality (Calgary, AB), and aims to reduce male-perpetrated adolescent dating violence, improve mental and sexual health, and support youth to build healthier, more inclusive relationships in their peer groups, schools and communities, by helping participants identify and deconstruct gender role norms.

WiseGuyz is offered during instructional time by community-based facilitators from the Centre for Sexuality. WiseGuyz is comprised of 20 sessions across four modules. These sessions typically take the full school year (September-May) to implement.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* all participants need to be enrolled in the 9th grade in 2019-20, 2021-22 or 2022-23 in order to participate (study length extended due to COVID-19 disruptions in 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22).

Exclusion Criteria

* individuals who are not male-identified and not in the 9th grade at one of the participating schools in 2019-20, 2021-22 or 2022-23 will not be invited to participate.
Minimum Eligible Age

13 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

16 Years

Eligible Sex

MALE

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)

OTHER_GOV

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Calgary

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Deinera Exner-Cortens, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Calgary

Locations

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University of Calgary

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Site Status

Countries

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Canada

References

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Exner-Cortens D, Hurlock D, Wright A, Carter R, Krause, P. Preliminary evaluation of a gender-transformative healthy relationships program for adolescent boys [published online ahead of print January 31, 2019]. Psychol Men Masculin. doi:10.1037/men0000204

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Claussen C. Men engaging boys in healthy masculinity through school-based sexual health education [published online ahead of print August 10, 2018]. Sex Education. doi:10.1080/14681811.2018.1506914

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Claussen C. The WiseGuyz Program: Sexual health education as a pathway to supporting changes in endorsement of traditional masculinity ideologies. The Journal of Men's Studies. 25(2): 150-167, 2016.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Related Links

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Other Identifiers

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REB16-1368

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id