Evaluation of My Future Self, an New Teen Pregnancy Prevention Group Intervention for Youth in Non-traditional Settings

Evaluation of My Future Self, an Innovative Teen Pregnancy Prevention Intervention

Children's Hospital Los Angeles and ETR will implement and test the effectiveness of a pregnancy prevention intervention, My Future Self, targeting youth ages 16-19 in Los Angeles and San Diego Counties who, for a variety of reasons, are receiving education or training in non-traditional settings. These youth typically experience a combination of needs related to unstable or no housing, extreme poverty, involvement with child welfare or juvenile justice, historical trauma, and/or learning differences. My Future Self is a 5 week program consisting of 5 group sessions. Our study will enroll up to 704 highly mobile youth from various sites in Los Angeles and San Diego. Youth will be randomized to receive the My Future Self intervention in conjunction with their regular services or just their regular services. All youth enrolled will complete baseline, 6 month and 12 month surveys.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Teen Pregnancy
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: My Future Self

Detailed Description

Children's Hospital Los Angeles and ETR will implement and test the effectiveness of a pregnancy prevention intervention, My Future Self, targeting youth ages 16-19 in Los Angeles and San Diego Counties who, for a variety of reasons, are receiving education or training in non-traditional settings. These youth typically experience a combination of needs related to unstable or no housing, extreme poverty, involvement with child welfare or juvenile justice, historical trauma, and/or learning differences.

Currently, there are a few evidence-based interventions that focus on sub populations of these youth in alternative schools (All4You!, All4You2!), those at risk for dropping out of school (Crossroads/TCAP), and those coming from out of home care settings (Power Through Choices). However additional interventions are needed as these youth represent a vulnerable population with unique needs and barriers to pregnancy prevention requiring approaches that are tailored to nontraditional educational settings, familial circumstances, developmental trajectory, and that are synergistic with the generational reliance on technology.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 704
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90027
      • Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 16 years to 19 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Youth will be eligible for enrollment in the evaluation if they:

• Are served, or identified on outreach, by one of our partner youth-serving agencies or schools
• Are ages 16-19 years
• Are English-language speakers
• Are not currently pregnant
• Have no immediate travel plans (i.e., are planning on being in the area for the length of the intervention)
• Have not previously enrolled in the study, and
• Answer the baseline survey items related to our primary outcome (which will be assessed after completion of the baseline survey).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Outside of age range
• Currently pregnant
• Not planning to be in the area for the length of the intervention)
• Previously enrolled in 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: My Future Self Intervention; My Future Self - 5 group sessions; 1 hour each over 5 weeks; content includes: health education around abstinence and contraception methods, and consideration of goals of parenthood and family planning in their adult future; future plans, discussion of healthy intimate partner relationships/	Behavioral: My Future Self; My Future Self is based upon the Theory of Possible Selves, which promotes the capacity of young people to construct goals for a successful adulthood. Youth who hold a balanced set of negative and positive images of their future have both a) a positive goal to strive for and b) awareness of the personally relevant consequences of not meeting that goal. My Future Self also includes two new supportive gaming elements that reinforce learning of relevant knowledge and skills as well as provide opportunities for youth to individually practice these skills in a personalized virtual environment. Gaming interventions using interactive technology can significantly increase self-reported abstinence and lower reports of diagnosed STD in young women, as well as reduce risky sex for men and women. Youth will participate in these gaming elements on tablets provided by CHLA. My Future Self will be implemented as a ninety-minute small group 5-week program.
No Intervention: Control; Youth will continue to receive any services that they would normally receive around health education.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Protection from pregnancy in the past 90 days	Had vaginal sex in the past 90 days (% No) OR Used contraception, at least 80% of the time when having vaginal sex (% Yes)	Past 90 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Children's Hospital Los Angeles
• Collaborators: ETR Associates
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Mona Desai, Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 13, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 31, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 22, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 22, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): April 3, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 24, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 21, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: CHLA-23-00049

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

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