Effectiveness of Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs Designed Specifically for Young Males (DP15-007)

$726,660

Columbia University will assess an innovative, computer-assisted motivational interviewing (CAMI) intervention, originally designed and implemented with girls, for use with young men aged 15-24 years to reduce their risk of fathering a teen pregnancy. The CAMI-teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) intervention consists of four 30-minute motivational interviewing coaching sessions over 12 weeks and one 30-minute booster coaching session at 6 months. Sessions will be guided by computer-generated feedback aimed at increasing condom use, supporting female partners’ contraceptive use, and completing a reproductive health visit with sexually transmitted disease testing. Columbia will enroll approximately 650 young men from two inner-city high schools in the Bronx, in a young men’s clinic, and in community agencies. Participants will be randomized to the CAMI-TPP intervention group or to a CAMI-Fitness control group targeting diet, physical activity, and tobacco use. Columbia will follow participants for 12 months and assess differences in sexual and contraceptive behaviors by group.  The specific aim of the study is to evaluate the efficacy of the CAMI-TPP (intervention) compared to CAMI-Fitness (control) in reducing sexual behaviors that increase the risks of fathering an unintended teen pregnancy.  If successful, the proposed project will further the scientific evidence base for teen pregnancy prevention programs specifically designed for adolescent and young adult males.;

$773,340

New York University will develop and rigorously evaluate Fathers Raising Responsible Men, a teen pregnancy prevention program designed for adolescent males.  The program incorporates a novel, theoretically based intervention highlighting the important and influential role that fathers have on the development of adolescent males and will target black and Latino adolescent males aged 15-19 and their fathers residing in the South Bronx. Fathers Raising Responsible Men strives to enhance the relationship between fathers and sons through improving father-son communication about sexual decision-making, paternal monitoring and supervision, father-son understanding of masculinity and its influence on risk behavior, and father-son participation in shared activities. The program consists of three 90-minute intervention sessions delivered over a 1-month period. Two sessions are conducted with the father, and one session is conducted with the father-son dyad. Fathers are also provided with a 6-module intervention workbook. NYU will conduct a randomized controlled trial comprising 800 families to rigorously evaluate the intervention, followed by a study to refine intervention and training materials to improve dissemination. If successful, the proposed project will further develop the current scientific evidence and intervention options targeted specifically to the teen pregnancy prevention needs of ethnic minority adolescent males.

$500,000

Promundo will adapt and rigorously evaluate an innovative teen pregnancy prevention curriculum, Program H, for young men aged 16-22 years. The holistic, 12-hour, gender-transformative curriculum will be delivered over six 2-hour sessions. The program addresses reproductive health knowledge, healthy relationships, healthy masculinity, and explicit and proactive support of female partners' contraceptive use. Activities are designed to engage young men in critical reflection and dialogue about gender norms and then apply these discussions to a range of key issues, including intimate relationships, gender-based violence, substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, and teen pregnancy. Partnering with a local community-based organization serving primarily Latino and African American young people, Promundo will conduct a randomized controlled trial, enrolling approximately 650 young males, to evaluate the impact of the intervention at 3- month follow-up. If found to be effective, Program H will help fill a gap in evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programming designed specifically for young men.