Testing the Effectiveness of the Full and Abridged Relationship Smarts Curriculum for 9th Grade Students

Mathematica Policy Research

Status: Completed

Conditions: Knowledge; Attitudes

Treatments: Behavioral: Job Readiness Curriculum; Behavioral: Healthy Relationship Education

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; Other U.S. Federal agency

Identifiers

NCT02832856

MPR-500098-MTC

Details and patient eligibility

About

This evaluation will test the program effectiveness of a relationship education program (Relationship Smarts PLUS)and an abridged version of the program to 9th Grade Students on outcomes of knowledge. It will test 1) whether the Relationship Smarts (RS) Curriculum is more effective than a control curriculum of job-readiness programming, and 2) whether an abridged 8-lesson version of the RS Curriculum can be as effective as the full 12-lesson version.

Full description

MTCI plans to deliver the Relationship Smarts PLUS (RS+) education curriculum to youth in high schools during the regular school day. RS+ is a widely-implemented healthy relationship education curriculum that aligns with the Georgia Department of Education performance standards in health education. The curriculum features 12 lessons covering such topics as healthy relationships, dating violence prevention, communication skills, conflict management, and decision making. MORE THAN CONQUERORS, INC. (MTCI) plans to deliver the curriculum to 9th grade students as part of a required, semester-long health class. The program will be delivered by trained facilitators from MTCI in coordination with each participating school.

To be eligible to participate, students must be enrolled in one of the targeted health classes and have permission from a parent or guardian to participate in both the MATURE Plus II program and the STREAMS evaluation.The study plans to enroll 1,840 students over the entire two-year evaluation period.

At the start of each semester, the targeted sections of 9th grade health class will be randomly assigned into one of three research groups: (1) a group that receives the full, 12-lesson RS+ curriculum, (2) a group that receives a "summary" 8-lesson version of the RS+ curriculum and four lessons on career planning and job readiness, or (3) a control group that receives lessons on career planning and job readiness without any lessons from the RS+ curriculum.

All students for whom consent and assent have been obtained will be asked to complete three surveys: (1) a baseline survey administered in health class near the start of the semester, (2) a post-program survey administered in health class near the end of the semester, and (3) a one-year follow-up survey administered about 12 months after the baseline survey, during 10th grade

Enrollment: 1,180 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 11 to 16 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• high school students in 9th grade health classes
• must be enrolled in one of the targeted health classes
• permission from a parent or guardian to participate in both the program and the evaluation

Exclusion criteria

• non-students
• students in other grades of high school
• students not enrolled in health class
• students without parental permission to participate

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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1,180 participants in 3 patient groups, including a placebo group

Control

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Control group members will receive a job readiness curriculum entitled Beginning to Work it Out (BWIO) that assists at-risk youth who are preparing for first-time employment. Topics include recognizing how personal beliefs and behaviors may be perceived in the workplace, as well as "soft skills" such as emotional self-management and problem-solving skills.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Job Readiness Curriculum

Full Relationship Smarts Curriculum

Experimental group

Description:

This group receives the behavioral intervention of the healthy relationship education in the form of the full, 12-lesson RS+ curriculum over approximately 12 weeks.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Healthy Relationship Education

Abridged Relationship Smarts Curriculum

Experimental group

Description:

This group receives the behavioral intervention of the healthy relationship education in the form of the "summary" 8-lesson version of the RS+ curriculum - as well as four lessons on career planning and job readiness over approximately 12 weeks.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Healthy Relationship Education

Behavioral: Job Readiness Curriculum