An Evaluation of Virtual Student Health Center Among Incarcerated Juvenile Offenders

NCT ID: NCT04027010

Last Updated: 2022-08-10

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 295 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2017-02-01
• Study Completion Date: 2020-05-01

Brief Summary

WestEd and its partners Efficacity and the Oregon Youth Authority (OYA), are conducting a randomized controlled trial of an innovative teen pregnancy prevention program, Healthy U, for youthful male offenders. This study involves male teenagers (age 14-19) at high risk for involvement in risky sexual behavior, including teen pregnancy. The innovative, non-curricular, technology-based intervention, Healthy U, is self-directed, low-cost, user friendly, and offers great promise in reaching incarcerated youth. The purpose of this study is to test this intervention on a population of young men incarcerated at the OYA who will soon be released into the community. The intervention is tailored to this population by updating the design, videos, and examples to best reflect the youth in the study, and OYA staff are being trained to facilitate the self-guided intervention.

Detailed Description

WestEd and its partners, Efficacity and the Oregon Youth Authority (OYA), were funded by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to conduct a randomized controlled trial of an innovative teen pregnancy prevention program, Healthy U (formally known as Virtual Student Health Center), for youthful male offenders to test the impact of this innovative, non-curricular, technology-based intervention, that is self-directed, low-cost, user friendly, and offers great promise in reaching incarcerated youth. Healthy U was designed to give adolescents and teens the tools they need to reduce their risk of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV, using a low-cost, transportable platform that is user-friendly for youth (and staff to oversee). In this project, we take the innovative Healthy U intervention and modify its implementation for juveniles in custody of a correctional facility.

This study involved male teenagers (ages 14-19) at high risk for involvement in risky sexual behavior, including teen pregnancy. The findings from this study are intended to contribute to research on both teen pregnancy and crime prevention. Teen parents and their children are at greater risk for subsequent criminal offending, and the children of teen parents also have greater risk of child abuse and neglect victimization. The current knowledge base suggests that youth exposed to the juvenile justice system have sex more often with more partners at a younger age and without protection (Bryan, Rocheleau, Robbins, & Hutchinson, 2005). This randomized study was designed to contribute to our understanding of what works with this population and to strengthen our knowledge base around developing and implementing technology-based interventions in a juvenile correctional environment.

Conditions

Lack of Knowledge About Condoms and Birth Control; Adolescent Sexual Intercourse; Sexual Intercourse Without a Condom or Birth Control; Unplanned Pregnancies

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

"Healthy U" tablet application

Healthy U is a self-administered intervention implemented through a tablet app with interactive learning experiences, including videos, digital games, quizzes, and role-plays. Healthy U takes youth 3-4 hours to complete. The goals of Healthy U are to: 1) Increase male youth's perception of vulnerability to unplanned fatherhood, STDs and HIV; 2) Increase male youth's self-efficacy for negotiating condom use with their partners; 3) Increase male youth's self-efficacy for using condoms correctly and consistently every time they have sex; and 4) Increase male youth's engagement with goals and dreams for their future.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

"Healthy U" tablet application

Intervention Type: OTHER

There are seven modules in Healthy U: Puberty, Birth Control, Teen Pregnancy, HIV, STDs, Healthy Relationships, and Condom Negotiation. Each module has six sections: Introduction and Review, Narrative Teen Portrait, Information Film, Activity/Game, Dramatic Film, and Imagination Challenge. The Introduction and Review has videos lasting 1-2 minutes where the Healthy U "host" introduces each module. In the Narrative Teen Portrait for each module, a different teen discusses their experience with the topic for 1-3 minutes. The Information Film lasts 5-18 minutes per module and provides factual information. For each module, the Activity/Game includes multiple choice, true/false, or other games. The Dramatic Film lasts 5-17 minutes for each module and shows a fictional account of a teen experiencing the topic. Finally, the Imagination Challenge asks the youth to imagine a scenario, such as going to a health clinic to obtain free condoms.

Treatment as usual

The counterfactual condition for the study is a business-as-usual condition. OYA does not provide much programming to youth in its facilities related to sexual health and pregnancy prevention.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

"Healthy U" tablet application

There are seven modules in Healthy U: Puberty, Birth Control, Teen Pregnancy, HIV, STDs, Healthy Relationships, and Condom Negotiation. Each module has six sections: Introduction and Review, Narrative Teen Portrait, Information Film, Activity/Game, Dramatic Film, and Imagination Challenge. The Introduction and Review has videos lasting 1-2 minutes where the Healthy U "host" introduces each module. In the Narrative Teen Portrait for each module, a different teen discusses their experience with the topic for 1-3 minutes. The Information Film lasts 5-18 minutes per module and provides factual information. For each module, the Activity/Game includes multiple choice, true/false, or other games. The Dramatic Film lasts 5-17 minutes for each module and shows a fictional account of a teen experiencing the topic. Finally, the Imagination Challenge asks the youth to imagine a scenario, such as going to a health clinic to obtain free condoms.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Other Intervention Names

Virtual Student Health Center

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Male
• Aged 14-19
• OYA commits
• Have the cognitive ability to complete the baseline and follow-up surveys
• Need to be within 30-90 days of release

Exclusion Criteria

• Female
• Outside of age criteria
• Oregon Department of Corrections commits
• Does not have the cognitive ability to complete the baseline and follow-up surveys
• Not within 30-90 days of release

• Minimum Eligible Age: 14 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 19 Years
• Eligible Sex: MALE
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Oregon Youth Authority

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Efficacity

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

The Office of Adolescent Health, HHS

FED

Sponsor Role: collaborator

WestEd

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Locations

WestEd

Los Alamitos, California, United States

WestEd

Woburn, Massachusetts, United States

Countries

United States

References

Bryan A, Rocheleau CA, Robbins RN, Hutchinson KE. Condom use among high-risk adolescents: testing the influence of alcohol use on the relationship of cognitive correlates of behavior. Health Psychol. 2005 Mar;24(2):133-42. doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.133.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 15755227 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

8169

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id