Girl2Girl: A Web-based Trial

Center for Innovative Public Health Research574 enrolled

Overview

This is a pilot effectiveness study of Girl2Girl, a text messaging-based pregnancy prevention program for cisgender sexual minority adolescents.

An estimated one in four teen women will become pregnant by the time she is 20 years of age. That said, significant disparity in rates exist for lesbian, gay, bisexual and other sexual minority women (LGB) versus non-LGB teen women: Research suggests that lesbian and bisexual teen women are between two and four times more likely to report having been pregnant than teen women who identified as exclusively heterosexual. Despite this compelling evidence that lesbian and bisexual adolescent women are at risk for teen pregnancy, programs tailored to the unique needs of adolescent LGB women are nonexistent. Evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) programs targeting LGB teen women are urgently needed. The Girl2Girl intervention text messaging-based TPP program designed specifically for LGB women ages 14-18 years, nation-wide. This is an extension of a previous randomized controlled trial. Here, the cohort was recruited using an effectiveness strategy: Girls were allowed to register and enroll themselves without needing to talk to research staff. All eligible and interested youth were allowed to enroll; no diversity targets were applied.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

574

Conditions

Pregnancy Prevention

Interventions

Girl2GirlBEHAVIORAL

The program has a 'core' 7 weeks of daily messages and then a week 'booster' that is delivered 3 months later.

Eligibility

Sex: FEMALEMin age: 14 YearsMax age: 18 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Endorse a non-heterosexual sexual identity (i.e., lesbian/gay, bisexual, queer, questioning, unsure) on the screener; * Be cisgender (i.e., be assigned a female sex at birth and endorse a female gender identity) on the screener; * Be aged 14-18; * Be English speaking; * Be able to provide informed assent, including the self-directed self-safety assessment. Exclusion Criteria: * Not passing the self-directed self-safety assessment * Knowing someone who is already enrolled in the program (added part-way through the recruitment period) * Non-cisgender identity in the screener

Locations (1)

Center for Innovative Public Health Research

San Clemente, California, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Number of Condom protected penile-vaginal Sex Acts

The relative difference of protected penile-vaginal sex acts in the intervention versus control group at 3-months post-intervention

Time frame: 3-months post-intervention

Number of Participants Who Used Other Birth Control Methods

The relative difference of teens who used birth control methods other than condoms (e.g., the pill, the patch) in the intervention versus control group at 3-months post-intervention

Time frame: 3-months post-intervention

Secondary Outcomes

Testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs)

The relative odds of reporting an HIV or other STI test during the observation period for those in the intervention versus control

Time frame: 3-months post intervention

Pregnancy

The percent of teens who have been pregnant since the beginning of the observation period in the intervention versus control group

Time frame: 3-months post intervention

Intentions to use condoms

The percent of teens who intend to use condoms if they have penile-vaginal sex in the future

Time frame: 3-months post intervention

Intentions to Use Birth Control Other Than Condoms

The percent of teens who intend to use birth control other than condoms if they have penile-vaginal sex in the future

Time frame: 3-months post intervention

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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