The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness, likability, and implementation potential of PACT, an adapted digital program to teach non-heterosexual adolescent boys about sexual consent and condom negotiation in a randomized controlled trial over 9 months.
Because the PACT (Promoting Affirmative Consent among Teens) digital health intervention showed evidence of effectiveness at improving sexual consent cognitions in its first trial, and was found generally likable among adolescents, the research team has adapted the program to serve as sexual assertiveness (consent and condom negotiation) training. This adapted version is tailored to the specific needs of adolescent sexual minority males (ASMM), a population that has been historically underserved by traditional sex education while also experiencing disproportionately high rates of both sexual violence victimization and condom non-use. The evaluation of the adapted PACT program (now titled Promoting Assertive Communication among Teens) will take place in an RCT with a Type 1 effectiveness-implementation hybrid design. Surveys will be administered at pre-intervention, post-intervention, 3-month follow-up, and 9-month follow-up. The investigators will assess acceptability, implementation factors, and main and secondary outcomes related to consent and condom negotiation/use.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
300
See Arm Description
See Arm Description
North Carolina A&T State University
Greensboro, North Carolina, United States
Condom negotiation intentions
Participants' likelihood of using a condom during sexual intercourse with a partner
Time frame: Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 3 months, 9 months
Affirmative consent intentions
Participants' likelihood of 1) ensuring consent is obtained from a partner prior to sexual intercourse and 2) communicating their consent affirmatively to a partner prior to intercourse
Time frame: Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 3 months, 9 months
Condom negotiation self-efficacy
Participants' confidence in their ability to assert their desire to use a condom with a partner (5-point likert, strongly disagree to strongly agree, higher scores = higher self-efficacy)
Time frame: Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 3 months, 9 months
Affirmative consent self-efficacy
Participants' confidence in their ability to communicate sexual consent with a partner (4-point likert, "not at all confident" to "very confident", higher scores = higher self-efficacy)
Time frame: Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 3 months, 9 months
Condom use
Behavioral outcome measuring whether a condom was used for sexual intercourse
Time frame: Baseline, 3 months, 9 months
Condom negotiation
Behavioral outcome measuring discussion about condom use prior to sexual intercourse
Time frame: Baseline, 3 months, 9 months
Affirmative consent communication
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Behavioral outcome measuring affirmative consent communication before and during sexual intercourse
Time frame: Baseline, 3 months, 9 months
Condom attitudes
Participants' beliefs about the importance of condom use (items from the Condom Attitudes scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree, higher scores = more positive attitudes)
Time frame: Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 3 months, 9 months
Affirmative consent attitudes
Participants' beliefs about the importance of affirmative consent (items from the Sexual Consent Scale-Revised, strongly disagree to strongly agree, higher scores = more positive attitudes)
Time frame: Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 3 months, 9 months
Condom norms
Participants' personal and perceived norms about condom use (condom norms items from the Psychosocial Scales, higher score = more positive norms)
Time frame: Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 3 months, 9 months
Affirmative consent norms
Participants' personal and perceived norms about affirmative consent (Norms items from Sexual Consent Scale-Revised, strongly disagree to strongly agree, higher scores = more positive norms)
Time frame: Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 3 months, 9 months
Acceptability
Participants' perceptions of the likability and usefulness of the program (items adapted from Acceptability of Intervention measure, "not at all" to "a lot", higher scores = higher acceptability)
Time frame: Immediately post-intervention