Prepping for The Talk: Helping Trusted Adults and Youth Talk About Sexual Health

Summary

The goal of this study is to help young people talk to trusted adults (including their parents, but also other adults) about sexual health more openly and honestly- including how to prevent sexually transmitted diseases like HIV - while also respecting a young person's right to privacy. If youth don't have a parent they can talk to about sexual health, we want to help them find a trusted adult to talk to. We also want to help youth take control of their own health by learning about different ways to protect their health.

Eligibility

Age range

14–17 years

Sex

Male

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Interventions

• Behavioral
  Intervention

  Youth: interventionist-facilitated 1:1 conversation with the youth via videoconference that includes a) brief sexual health assessment, b) individualized information about HIV risk reduction including PrEP, and c) use of motivational interviewing strategies to discuss barriers to PrEP. Parents: brief (\~20-30 min) web-based, interactive learning module ("module") designed to provide information about sexual health communication (SHC) best practices, HIV prevention strategies (e.g., condoms, STI testing, PrEP), as well as build practical skills around SHC using evidence-based behavior change methods (e.g., building confidence, aligning values with actions).

• Behavioral
  Control

  Youth: interventionist-facilitated 1:1 conversation with the youth via videoconference that includes a) brief sexual health assessment, and b) didactic information about condom use, STI testing (including HIV), and PrEP (but not motivational interviewing or individualized information on HIV risk reduction). Parent: brief written information on a digital platform (i.e., website) with advice about talking to youth about sexual health with web-links to resources about STI/HIV prevention and PrEP. This information will not be interactive or use behavior change methods.

Location