The "Reach For Health" Program: Delaying Sexual Activity in Children

June 23, 2005 updated by: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Reach For Health--Middle Childhood Risk Prevention Study

Working with multiple schools in Brooklyn, NY, this study will develop and evaluate school- and community-based strategies designed to reduce early sexual activity and risky sexual behavior in middle school-aged children. These strategies will focus on parent education, classroom health curriculum, and learning through participation in community service.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Given the early age of sexual initiation among urban minority youth, interventions aimed at reducing sexual initiation and risky sexual behavior related to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) should begin prior to entry into middle school. These interventions should support both students and their parents through the transition to early adolescence. In collaboration with the New York City Public Schools, this study is designed to evaluate strategies to prevent early sexual initiation and its precursors among academically at-risk urban minority boys and girls.

This study will answer two questions: 1) do factors that predict sexual risk taking and its precursors in young adolescence operate similarly in middle childhood; and 2) can interventions shown to be effective in early adolescence be developmentally adapted for middle childhood to delay sexual initiation and its precursors? The study will evaluate the impact of the intervention on mechanisms hypothesized to reduce sexual risk taking and its precursors, including the personal resiliency and social competencies of youth. The study will also collect data on the costs and process of implementation to inform subsequent dissemination.

Participants in this study will be fifth and sixth grade children enrolled in participating public schools in Brooklyn, NY. Participating school communities will be predominantly African American and Latino. In the fall of their fifth and sixth grade years, students and their families are assigned at random to participate in either a parent education group or in a control group. The parent education program, "Saving Sex for Later," focuses on the transition from middle childhood to early adolescence, the pressures to engage in risk behaviors (including early sexual initiation and related risks), and peer and parental influences on youth attitudes and behaviors. Those in the control condition receive a classroom health curriculum. In addition, a subgroup in each grade level is assigned to participate in service learning, an educational method in which personal and community values are taught through experience in structured service activities.

Youth will be followed for 12 to 18 months. Surveys will be conducted in the fall of the fifth and sixth grade years and again at a 3-month post intervention follow-up. These surveys will measure youth attitudes and behaviors, including precursors to early sexual initiation and related risk behaviors. Surveys of parents' attitudes and behaviors will also be conducted to supplement information from youth. To assist in interpreting results of the surveys, in-depth qualitative interviews will be conducted with a subgroup of fifth grade youth; these youth will be resurveyed prior to entry into seventh grade.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

1200

Phase

  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Massachusetts
      • Newton, Massachusetts, United States, 02458
        • Recruiting
        • Education Development Center, Inc.
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

10 years to 14 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria

  • Youth attending NYC schools implementing "Reach for Health" program components and their parents
  • Enrolled in general education classes
  • Ability to complete survey assessments in English

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

July 1, 2000

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 22, 2003

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 22, 2003

First Posted (Estimate)

April 23, 2003

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

June 24, 2005

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 23, 2005

Last Verified

April 1, 2003

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 5R01HD39537-2

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Child Behavior

Clinical Trials on Parent-child communication education

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Angola

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

3
Subscribe