Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting
Date Submitted: Apr 3, 2020
Date Accepted: Apr 18, 2021
Smart Choices 4 Teens: The Efficacy of a Web-Based Intervention to Facilitate Parent-Adolescent Communication about Relationships and Sexuality
ABSTRACT
Background:
There is a need for interventions that promote healthy decision-making for teens that leverages the on-going impact of parental relationships through older adolescence and young adulthood. These interventions should maximize teen engagement as well as be easily accessible for families in terms of cost, duration, and logistics related to participation.
Objective:
To test the efficacy of the healthy relationships and sexual decision-making component of an on-line intervention for older teens and their parents.
Methods:
A randomized controlled trial was conducted for the on-line intervention, Smart Choices 4 Teens, from 2014-2015. Families (N=411) with teens ages 15-16 year-old teens were randomly assigned to the intervention or a control condition. Surveys were administered at Baseline, and at three follow-up time points (6-, 12-, and 18-months).
Results:
Adolescents participating in the relationships component were significantly less likely to have had sex and had fewer sexual partners at all three follow-up time points. Participation in the relationships component also significantly increased parental sexual communication and monitoring for adolescent girls and significantly increased negative sexual expectancies for adolescent boys.
Conclusions:
Smart Choices 4 Teens demonstrated efficacy in increasing sexual communication between parents and teens and having a long-term impact on teen sexual behavior. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03521115; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03521115
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