With NIMH funding, we developed Talking Parents, Healthy Teens, a worksite-based program to help parents of 6th-10th graders learn to communicate with their children and promote healthy sexual development and risk reduction. The skills-based program is administered in 8 weekly one-hour lunchtime sessions to groups of 15 parents at worksites. In a randomized controlled trial, intervention and control parents complete surveys pre-intervention and at 0, 3, & 9 months post-intervention. Youth do not attend sessions but complete mail surveys. We have conducted the program at 10 sites (430 parents, 541 youth) and are scheduled at 5 more sites (180 parents, 227 youth). Preliminary analyses show significant improvement in short-term parent-child communication outcomes, which have the potential to mediate longer-term sexual behavior outcomes. Most youth in our study have not reached the average age of intercourse initiation; so long-term follow-up is critical to evaluate the program's full impact. We are applying for continuation funds to follow parents and youth every 6 months for 4 more survey waves (15, 21,27, 33 months). If the program has the hypothesized effects on behavior, we will have provided strong evidence for a causal link between parenting practices and adolescent sexual health behaviors.
Our specific aims are to: (1) determine whether the program reduces sexual risk over several years, (2) assess persistence of program effects on parenting behaviors, parent-child relationships, and communication, (3) determine whether key components of our behavior change model mediate changes over time in parent-child relationships and adolescent behaviors, (4) explore subgroup differences in program effectiveness over time, (5) determine program effects on behavior of youth who received a substantial amount of the intended parenting practices, (6) determine whether the program affects adolescents' communication with peers and romantic/sexual partners about sexual topics and affects their relationships with peers and partners. ? ?
