An Evaluation of Virtual Student Health Center Among Incarcerated Juvenile Offenders

NCT04027010 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 8169
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 295
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

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.

Conditions

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

Keywords

juvenile justice; male-focused intervention; unplanned teen fatherhood; technology-based intervention

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Sexual intercourse

  The outcome was based on four survey items. Youth who responded "no" to the first item: "Have you ever had sexual intercourse?" were coded as "0". Youth who responded "no" to the second item: "Have you been out of a close custody OYA facility any time in the past three months?" were also coded as "0". Youth who responded "no" to the third item: "During the last 3 months, did you have sexual intercourse, even once?" were also coded as "0". Youth who responded "yes" to the first three items and provided a valid response greater than zero to the fourth item: "In the last 3 months (include only the time you were outside of a close custody OYA facility), how many TIMES did you have sexual inter-course?" were coded as the value they entered.

  6 months after the baseline survey

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Sexual intercourse without a condom

  6 months after the baseline survey

• Sexual intercourse without any methods of birth control

  6 months after the baseline survey

• Subsequent pregnancies of female partners

  6 months after the baseline survey

Other Outcomes (6)

• Perceptions of condoms

  6 months after the baseline survey

• Perceptions of sexual intercourse

  6 months after the baseline survey

• Confidence in use of birth control

  6 months after the baseline survey

Study Arms (2)

"Healthy U" tablet application

EXPERIMENTAL

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.

Other: "Healthy U" tablet application

Treatment as usual

NO INTERVENTION

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.

Interventions

"Healthy U" tablet application 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.

Also known as: Virtual Student Health Center

"Healthy U" tablet application

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 14 Years - 19 Years
• Gender Eligibility Details: The study sample will include male youth who, at the time of recruitment, are incarcerated in one of the five OYA male juvenile justice facilities.
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• 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

You may not qualify if:

• 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

Sponsors & Collaborators

• WestEd: lead
• Oregon Youth Authority: collaborator
• Efficacity: collaborator
• The Office of Adolescent Health, HHS: collaborator

Study Sites (2)

WestEd

Los Alamitos, California, 90720, United States

Location

WestEd

Woburn, Massachusetts, 01801, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• 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.

  PMID: 15755227 BACKGROUND

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: The treatment condition involves participation in a teen pregnancy prevention program, Healthy U (formally known as Virtual Student Health Center). The comparison condition for the study is treatment as usual.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 17, 2019
• First Posted: July 19, 2019
• Study Start: February 1, 2017
• Primary Completion: May 1, 2020
• Study Completion: May 1, 2020
• Last Updated: August 10, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (2)