NCT04312867

Dating Violence Prevention Program Focusing on Middle School Boys

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 180 (actual)
• Sponsor: Rhode Island Hospital · Academic / Other
• Sex: Male
• Age: 12 Years – 15 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study will test a web-based intervention to enhance emotion regulation skills and parent-son relationship communication to decrease adolescent boys' risk for dating violence involvement as well as attitudes supporting relationship aggression.

Detailed description

Over the past ten years dating violence (DV) has been recognized as a significant public health problem affecting adolescents. Emerging data suggest that boys and girls have different developmental trajectories toward violence and therefore prevention programs that target their unique pathways to DV are needed. Despite this need, there is a relative dearth of such gender-informed programs for early adolescent boys. This research project aims to prevent the emergence of DV perpetration/ victimization among boys by developing a web-based intervention that is informed by research on gender-specific pathways to violence and harnesses the influence of parents during the early adolescent years. Among boys, the perpetration of delinquency-related violence and attitudes supporting violence has been found to predict later perpetration of DV. Thus, gender-informed interventions designed to prevent DV in boys need to target skills that underlie violent behavior and attitudes. The goal of this study is to test a web-based intervention to enhance emotion regulation skills and parent-son relationship communication to prevent DV. A pilot trial was conducted to create and test the efficacy of the web-based intervention. Preliminary results suggested the program was effective in reducing dating-violence involvement. This Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) will test the efficacy of the intervention against an active control designed to provide health related information in a format similar to that of the intervention condition. 340 families (English or Spanish-speaking) will be randomly assigned to complete the intervention program or the health-promotion control program. All families will complete the program in an observed setting, to ensure fidelity to intervention dosing. Parents and adolescents will complete the program together and then complete assessments of aggressive and risk behaviors, parent-child communication, and emotion regulation at baseline, 3-month,6-month, 12-month, 18-month, and 24-month follow-ups.

Conditions

• Adolescent Dating Violence

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Project STRONG	Project STRONG is a 6-module web-based, dyadic intervention for middle school boys and their parents to complete. Its goal is primary prevention of adolescent dating violence by targeting parent-child communication and emotion regulation ability.
BEHAVIORAL	Health Promotion	Health promotion is a 6 module web-based, health information program designed to provide health content similar to that provided in a middle school health class. This program is designed to mirror Project STRONG for time and delivery method.

Timeline

• Start date: 2019-10-01
• Primary completion: 2025-05-31
• Completion: 2025-05-31
• First posted: 2020-03-18
• Last updated: 2025-07-30

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States