Parents Matter!: Interventions to Promote Effective Parent-Child Communication

Phase 1

Completed

• Conditions: HIV Infections; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Pregnancy

• Registration Number: NCT00137943
• Lead Sponsor: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Brief Summary

Parents Matter is a community-based project whose goal it is to develop and test an intervention designed to promote effective parent-child communication about sexuality in order to promote sexual health among adolescents.

Detailed Description

Participants in the intervention are African American parents or guardians who have children in the 4th or 5th grade that are 12 or younger. Recruitment was done through schools, housing authorities, community based organizations, and churches. Participants were randomly assigned to participate in one of three interventions delivered by community based interventionists. The enhanced sexuality communication intervention consists of five 2.5 hour sessions conducted over 5 weeks with booster sessions at 12 and 24 months post-intervention. The full sexual communication intervention focuses on general parenting skills and sexual communication skills using a variety of presentation modalities: group discussion, video, and role-plays. The brief sexual communication intervention consists of a single 2.5 hour session in which parents are provided with information on general parenting skills and sexual communication skills. Thus, this intervention seeks to provide the same information as the full sexual communication intervention but in a condensed format with little group participation. The control intervention is a single 2.5 hour session focusing on general child health issues such as diet and exercise rather than parenting and sexual communication.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 1999-09
• Study First Submitted: 2005-08-26
• Study First Submitted QC: 2005-08-26
• Study First Posted: 2005-08-30
• Primary Completion: 2006-09
• Study Completion: 2006-09
• Status Verified: 2012-09
• Last Update Submitted: 2012-09-26
• Last Update Posted: 2012-09-27

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 2210

Inclusion Criteria

The eligibility criteria for the parent-child dyad are as follows:

• The parent or guardian must be African-American
• The parent or guardian must be the primary caregiver for a child in 4th or 5th grade who is 12 or younger at the time of the 1st assessment.
• The parent or guardian and the child must have lived together continuously for at least the past 3 years and the child must spend most nights (5 or more) with the parent or guardian.
• The parent or guardian and the child must both speak English.

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Percent of teens who have initiated sexual intercourse at 3 years post intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Increase in parental comfort communicating at 1 year
Increase in parental confidence communicating at 1 year
Increase in parental skills at 1 year
Increase in parental knowledge at 1 year

Trial Locations

Locations (3)

Georgia State University; 🇺🇸 Atlanta, Georgia, United States

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; 🇺🇸 Little Rock, Arkansas, United States

University of Georgia; 🇺🇸 Athens, Georgia, United States