Evaluation of Young United Parents

The Policy & Research Group (PRG) will be rigorously evaluating an innovative intervention, Young United Parents! (YUP!), which is a website-based program designed to help young parents ages 15-22 avoid unplanned, repeat pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), reach their personal goals, and thrive in all areas of life. The mobile-optimized website contains 50 articles and over 100 personal narrative videos of highly diverse young parents and experts. The YUP! intervention includes: 1) video and written content on six topics (sexual health and birth control; healthy relationships; self-care; reaching your goals; parenting; and pregnancy and birth); 2) access to near-peer mentors; 3) a goal-setting tool; 4) daily tips, reminders, and motivational messages; 5) links and referrals to support services; and 6) membership in the YUP! online community of young parents.

PRG will conduct an implementation evaluation and an impact evaluation of a structured version of YUP!, called Guided YUP!. Guided YUP! involves a two-month program experience during which participants are directed through a dashboard on the website to review between 15-35 minutes of particular website content each week. Participants will also be paired with a near-peer mentor who will schedule virtual interactions with them every two weeks, for a total of at least five interactions over the course of the two-month intervention period. All interactions will be held via the YUP! participant dashboard and are expected to last between 5-10 minutes. The aim of these interactions is for the near-peer mentor to offer support and guidance, using motivational interviewing techniques, as the participants go through the Guided YUP! program. Additionally, Guided YUP! participants will be asked to outline and complete at least one goal during the two-month intervention period, using the goal tool on the website. Guided YUP! participants will also receive automatically generated tips and affirmations through the website and have access to the YUP! online community to participate in, if desired.

PRG will assess the efficacy of Guided YUP! using a randomized controlled trial. The study will target young mothers ages 15-20 who are currently caring for their child(ren) and not pregnant or trying to become pregnant. The primary aim of the study will be to investigate the impact of the intervention on two self-reported sexual behaviors: 1) use of effective non-barrier contraception and 2) frequency of vaginal sex without condoms. In addition, the study will include exploratory investigations of the following self-reported sexual behaviors and theoretically relevant antecedents to these behaviors: 1) frequency of sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing; 2) frequency of completely unprotected vaginal sex; 3) incidence of pregnancy; 4) incidence of STIs; 5) condom, contraceptive, and STI knowledge; 6) condom negotiation, contraceptive use, and STI testing self-efficacy; 7) condom and contraceptive use outcome expectations; and 8) perceived pregnancy fatalism. Finally, the study will explore the impact of the intervention on measures that assess participants' perceptions of their healthy relationships, self-care and well-being, goal achievement, and parenting competence.

Outcomes will be assessed using self-reported, participant-level data gathered using a structured questionnaire administered at four time points: baseline (enrollment); post-intervention (two months after baseline); three months post-intervention (five months after the baseline); and twelve months post-intervention (fourteen months after the baseline).

Starting in October 2022 and continuing for 21 months, 1400 participants from around the United States will be enrolled virtually. The final two years of the grant will be used to collect follow-up data from study participants; conduct implementation and impact evaluation analysis, reporting, and dissemination efforts.