Reducing HIV Risk Among Adolescents: Evaluating HEART for Teens

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Sexually Transmitted Diseases
HIV Infections

Interventions: Behavioral: HEART
Behavioral: Growing Minds

Registration Number: NCT03453515

Lead Sponsor: North Carolina State University

Brief Summary: This study evaluates an educational web-based intervention designed to increase adolescent boys' and girls' motivation and skills to engage in safer sexual behavior (HEART: Health Education and Relationship Training). Half of participants will receive HEART and half of participants will receive Growing Minds, an attention-matched control website focused on growth mindsets of intelligence and self-regulation. The ultimate goal of this work is to help youth reduce their risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and to avoid unplanned pregnancies.

Detailed Description: This study evaluates an educational web-based intervention designed to increase adolescent boys' and girls' motivation and skills to engage in safer sexual behavior (HEART: Health Education and Relationship Training). Half of participants will receive HEART and half of participants will receive Growing Minds, an attention-matched control website focused on growth mindsets of intelligence and self-regulation. The ultimate goal of this work is to help youth reduce their risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and to avoid unplanned pregnancies.

Primary outcomes for this study include 1) acceptability of the program, 2) safer sex self-efficacy, and 3) safer sex intentions.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 226

Inclusion Criteria

10th or 11th grader
Able to read English

Exclusion Criteria

None

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
HEART	HEART	Interactive website with five modules to address safer sex motivation, knowledge, attitudes/norms, self-efficacy, and sexual communication skills. Program takes approximately 30-45 minutes to complete.
Growing Minds	Growing Minds	Attention-matched control website with five modules to address an introduction to mindsets, growth mindsets of intelligence, growth mindsets of self-control, growth mindsets of people, and an integrative summary. Program takes approximately 30-45 minutes to complete.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Acceptability	immediate post-test at completion of intervention	6-item self-report of program acceptability. Each item analyzed separately for the percentage endorsement. Items were as follows: Liked the program Learned new things Program kept attention Will use information in the future Useful for girls my age Useful for boys my age Below we report results for the first item: number of participants who agree that they like the program

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
HIV/STD Knowledge	immediate post-test at completion of intervention	HIV/STD knowledge was assessed with 9 items (e.g., "STDs usually have noticeable symptoms, like itching or burning"). These were adapted from previous sexual health knowledge questionnaires (Brown, DiClemente, \& Park, 1992; Morton, Nelson, Walsh, Zimmerman, \& Coe, 1996) and were used in our previous work (Widman, Golin, et al., 2018). Participants rated each item as True, False, or Don't Know. Responses were recoded as 0 (Incorrect or Don't Know) or 1 (Correct). Scores were summed to reflect the total number of correct HIV/STD knowledge questions (possible range=0-9).
Condom Beliefs	immediate post-test at completion of intervention	Participants' attitudes about condoms were assessed with the 3-item Effect on Sexual Experiences subscale of the Condom Attitudes Scale Adolescent Version (St. Lawrence et al., 1994). An example item includes, "Condoms take away the pleasure of sex." Responses were on a scale from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree; alpha=.77). A mean of the three items was computed, such that higher scores indicate better outcomes (possible range 1-5).
Sexual Assertiveness	immediate post-test at completion of intervention	Self-reported sexual assertiveness was assessed with 3-items from the Multidimensional Sexual Self-Concept Scale (Snell, 1998). Items such as, "I'm very assertive about the sexual aspects of my life," were rated on a scale from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree; alpha=.75). A mean of the three items was computed, such that higher scores indicate better outcomes (possible range 1-5).
Safer Sex Intentions	immediate post-test at completion of intervention	Intentions to discuss sexual health was assessed with a item developed by our research team based on items from the AIDS Risk Behavior Survey (Donenberg, Emerson, Bryant, Wilson, \& Weber-Shifrin, 2001) and our previous work (Widman, Golin, et al., 2018). This item asked how likely teens were to discuss sexual health issues, including pregnancy and STDs, with their partner(s) prior to sexual activity (communication intentions). Response options ranged from 1 (not at all likely) to 5 (very likely). Higher scores indicate better outcomes.
Safer Sex Self-Efficacy	immediate post-test at completion of intervention	The Self-Efficacy for HIV Prevention Scale (Brown et al., 2014) was used to assess self-efficacy about communication and condom use. Six items assessed confidence communicating about sexual topics (e.g., "How sure are you that you could talk to your partner about safer sex?"). Two items assessed confidence obtaining and using condoms (e.g., "How sure are you that you could have condoms available when you need them?"). Participants responded from 1 (Couldn't do it) to 4 (Very Sure). A mean of all items was computed, such that higher scores indicate better outcomes (possible range 1-4; alpha=.79).