Feasibility and acceptability of a father-based intervention to support adolescents reproductive health

危险的性行为会带来很高的个人、社会和经济成本。父亲与青少年谈论性可以 保护青少年远离危险的性行为。然而，积极的影响是有限的，因为很少有父亲与他们交谈。 关于性的青少年和那些谈论性的青少年报告说，他们谈论性的频率很低。父母计划对支持青少年的影响 参与率和保留率低，以及缺乏对父亲特有的生殖健康的关注， 与青少年谈论性的障碍和支持。拟议的干预措施将解决 现有的计划，通过使用在线设计与自定进度的课程和参与双方的父亲和青少年， * 增加在基于父亲的需求评估中确定的创新要素，如基于父亲的同伴促进 支持小组，并确定多种方法与青少年交谈。使用干预映射， 协议使用理论，经验证据和社区投入，以制定健康干预措施，我们将制定 一项在线干预措施，支持父亲与青少年就性和关系进行促进健康的谈话， 运用社会认知理论，评价干预的可接受性、可行性和初步效果。 干预的短期目标是增加健康相关知识、自我效能和结果 期望作为减少青少年性风险行为的机制。我们计划使用未来的R 01进行 一项全面的随机对照试验，以评估该计划对解决NIH确定的长期目标的有效性 减少青少年性传播感染和增加他们的避孕药具使用。本研究的目的是 1)开发一个3模块的原型，用于支持健康促进家庭的父亲-青少年在线计划 关于性和关系的沟通，以及2）评估该计划的可接受性，可行性， 初步疗效。为了实现目标1，我们将使用在线课程和交互式课程开发程序模块。 活动的父亲和青少年一起完成，从我们的家庭不断利益相关者的反馈 咨询委员会，其中包括10名父亲和106名青少年。目标2将评估该计划的可接受性， 可行性和初步疗效使用50对高中年龄的青少年和父亲的试点研究。 可接受性和可行性评估使用数据，如试点登记，参与者反馈和调查 问卷调查鉴于项目范围有限，将通过评估初步成效， 通过干预前后的调查，使用 配对t检验和t检验来评估青少年性别对结果的影响。这项研究意义重大，因为它 将关于父亲与青少年谈论性的研究转化为基于技术的、潜在的可扩展干预 旨在减少青少年的危险性行为。本研究的创新之处在于开发了第一个 干预措施，以解决父亲作为一个未充分利用的资源，以支持青少年的性健康，使用新的 最大限度地提高父亲与青少年关于性的沟通的方法。这项研究通过以下方式促进公众健康： 开发一种有可能减少青少年危险性行为的干预措施。

Risky sexual behaviors have high personal, social, and financial costs. Fathers’ talk with teens about sex can protect teens from risky sexual behavior. However, the positive effects are limited, as few fathers talk with their teens about sex and those who do talk report low frequency of talk. Impacts of parent programs to support teen reproductive health are reduced by low participation and retention and lack of attention to father-specific barriers and supports for talk with teens about sex. The proposed intervention will address limitations of existing programs by using an online design with self-paced lessons and engaging both fathers and teens, and add innovative elements identified in father-based needs assessments such as a father-facilitated peer-based support group and identifying multiple approaches to talk with teens. Using Intervention Mapping, a systematic protocol using theory, empirical evidence, and community input to develop health interventions, we will develop an online intervention to support fathers’ health-promoting talk with their teens about sex and relationships, using Social Cognitive Theory, and evaluate the intervention’s acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy. The short-term goals of the intervention are to increase health-related knowledge, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations as mechanisms to reduce teens’ sexual risk behavior. We plan to use a future R01 to conduct a full-scale randomized control trial to assess the program’s efficacy to address long-term goals identified by NIH of reducing teens’ STI transmission and increasing their contraceptive use. The aims of the current study are 1) To develop a 3-module prototype for a father-teen online program to support health-promoting family communication about sex and relationships, and 2) To evaluate the program’s acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy. To address Aim 1, we will develop program modules using online lessons and interactive activities for fathers and teens to complete together, with ongoing stakeholder feedback from our Family Advisory Board, which includes 10 fathers and ≈6 teens. Aim 2 will assess the program’s acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy using a pilot study of 50 pairs of high school-aged teens and fathers. Acceptability and feasibility assessment use data such as pilot enrollment, participant feedback, and survey questionnaires. Given the limited project scope, preliminary efficacy will be explored by assessing initial directionality for correlates of teens’ sexual behavior through pre- and post-intervention surveys, using matched pair t-tests and t-tests to assess effects of teen gender on outcomes. This study is significant as it translates research on father-teen talk about sex into a technology-based and potentially scalable intervention designed to reduce teens’ sexual risk behavior. This study’s innovation lies in developing one of the first interventions to address fathers as an under-utilized resource to support teens’ sexual health, using novel approaches to maximize father-teen communication about sex. This study promotes public health by developing an intervention with potential to reduce teens’ sexual risk behavior.