Evaluation of the Spark of Duval Intervention

Evaluation of the Spark of Duval, an Innovative Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program

The S.P.A.R.K (Speaking to the Potential, Ability, and Resilience inside Kids) Teen Pregnancy Prevention and Mentoring program is being administered to youth (ages 11-17) living in out-of-home foster care in Duval County, Florida. Children's Home Society of Florida in Jacksonville received grant funding for the implementation and evaluation of the S.P.A.R.K program. The University of South Florida is examining the effects of intervention on reducing youth involvement in risky sexual behavior and incidents of teen pregnancy.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Teen Pregnancy Prevention
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: S.P.A.R.K (Speaking to the Potential, Ability and Resilience inside Kids) Teen Pregnancy Prevention and Mentoring

Detailed Description

The evaluation is conducting an individual randomized controlled trial to test the S.P.A.R.K. (Speaking to the Potential, Ability, and Resilience inside Kids) Teen Pregnancy Prevention and Mentoring intervention with youth assigned to either the intervention or control group. As youth are referred to the study, grantee staff confirm their eligibility and then work with the youth's child welfare case manager to obtain youth assent and parental consent. Once approximately 40 to 60 youth are recruited, grantee staff selects a day for baseline survey administration. Survey administration and group assignment take place at the grantee agency and incentives to complete the survey are provided including a gift card and snacks. All eligible youth with a signed assent and informed consent forms are invited to attend the baseline survey administration and group assignment. The evaluation team generates random numbers using computer software, and the grantee staff uses these numbers to indicate youth assignment to the intervention or control group, after youth have completed the baseline survey.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 400
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Florida
    • Tampa, Florida, United States, 33621
      • Recruiting
      • University of South Florida
      • Contact: Svetlana Yampolskaya, Phd; Phone Number: 813-974-8218; Email: yampol@usf.edu
      • Contact: Cathy Sowell; Phone Number: 813-974-3628; Email: csowell@usf.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 11 years to 17 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Youth aged 11-17, living in out-of-home foster care in Duval County, FL (Florida) are eligible for participation. Only youth who have provided assent and have received parental/guardian informed consent are included in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Youth who are teen parents, expectant parents, or currently living in residential facilities are excluded from the study.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention Group	Behavioral: S.P.A.R.K (Speaking to the Potential, Ability and Resilience inside Kids) Teen Pregnancy Prevention and Mentoring; S.P.A.R.K is a curriculum-based group intervention for youth ages 11-17 living in out-of-home foster care. The curriculum consists of 23 topical lessons made up of a combination of educational and interactive activities on each topic. The curriculum covers four Adult Preparation Subjects (healthy relationships, educational and career success, healthy life skills, adolescent development) as well as mentoring, bully prevention, emotional competency, self-efficacy, communication, conflict resolution, and pregnancy prevention.
No Intervention: Control Group

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Sex Initiation	Yes or No question regarding sexual activity	3 months and 6 months
Change in Sexual Activity in the Past Three Months	Number of times vaginal sex occurred in the past three months.	3 months and 6 months
Change in Condom and Birth Control Use during Sex	Frequency of condom use	3 months and 6 months
Change in Pregnancy Occurrence	Yes or No question regarding pregnancy	3 months and 6 months
Change in Behaviors	Survey questionnaire related to adolescent behaviors.	3 months and 6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Connections with Peers	Survey questionnaire related to connections with peers.	3 months and 6 months
Change in Relationships with People	Survey questionnaire related to relationships with people.	3 months and 6 months
Change in Basic Life Skills	Survey questionnaire related to basic life skills.	3 months and 6 months
Change in Educational Expectations and Academic Success	Survey questionnaire related to education expectations and academic successes.	3 months and 6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of South Florida

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 11, 2017
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): January 1, 2020
• Study Completion (Anticipated): April 1, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 17, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 1, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): August 2, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 2, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 1, 2019
• Last Verified: August 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: Pro00030249

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: Undecided

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No