Testing the Effectiveness of the Full and Abridged Relationship Smarts Curriculum for 9th Grade Students

Knowledge Clinical Trial

Official title:

Testing the Effectiveness of the Full and Abridged Versions of the Relationship Smarts Curriculum for 9th Grade Students

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT02832856
• Other study ID #: MPR-500098-MTC
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: August 2016
• Est. completion date: August 2021

Study information

• Verified date: April 2022
• Source: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial 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.

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

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 1180
• Est. completion date: August 2021
• Est. primary completion date: April 2019
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 11 Years to 16 Years

Eligibility

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

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Attitudes
• Knowledge

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Healthy Relationship Education
RS+ is a widely-implemented healthy relationship education curriculum that aligns with the Georgia Department of Education performance standards in health education. The full curriculum features 12 lessons covering such topics as healthy relationships, dating violence prevention, communication skills, conflict management, and decision making.
• Job Readiness Curriculum
Beginning to Work it Out (BWIO) assists youth who are preparing for first-time employment. Topics include recognizing how personal beliefs and behaviors may be perceived in the workplace, as well as "soft skills" such as emotional self-management and problem-solving skills.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	More Than Conquerors, Inc.	Conyers	Georgia

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.	Department of Health and Human Services

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Perceived general relationship skills	Six-item scale (range: 1 to 4)	one year after random assignment
Primary	Perceived conflict management skills	Five-item scale (range: 1 to 4)	one year after random assignment
Primary	Disapproval of teen dating violence	Twelve-item scale (range: 1 to 4)	one year after random assignment
Primary	Constraining beliefs about marriage	Series of three separate continuous variables (range: 1 to 4)	one year after random assignment
Primary	Knowledge of pregnancy and STIs	Continuous index variable: sum of correct responses to five true/false statements	one year after random assignment
Primary	Desire to avoid teen pregnancy	series of three separate continuous variables (range: 1 to 4)	one year after random assignment