Evaluation of Peer Group Connection - Middle School

Evaluation of Peer Group Connection - Middle School (PGC-MS)

This study is a randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of the Peer Group Connection - Middle School (PGC-MS) intervention on pre-sexual behaviors and sexual initiation in middle school-aged youth. The primary research questions it aims to answer are:

1. What is the impact of the offer to participate in PGC-MS relative to the control group on participants' reported initiation of sexual intercourse at sixteen months post-intervention?
2. What is the impact of the offer to participate in PGC-MS relative to the control group on participants' reports of ever smoking a cigarette at four months post-intervention?
3. What is the impact of the offer to participate in PGC-MS relative to the control group on participants' reports of ever using an electronic vapor product at four months post-intervention?
4. What is the impact of the offer to participate in PGC-MS relative to the control group on participants' reports of ever having a drink of alcohol at four months post-intervention?
5. What is the impact of the offer to participate in PGC-MS relative to the control group on participants' reports of ever using marijuana at four months post-intervention?

Researchers will compare participants randomized to receive PGC-MS (treatment group) to participants randomized to class-as-usual (which contains no sexual or reproductive health information (control group)).

Participants randomized to the treatment group will be offered PGC-MS over the course of their transition year into middle school (6th grade). Participants randomized to the control group will be offered class-as-usual.

This is an individual-level, randomized control trial to rigorously evaluate the impact of the Peer Group Connection - Middle School (PGC-MS) intervention. Participant outcomes will be assessed using self-reported, individual-level data gathered using a structured questionnaire administered at four time points: baseline (fall semester of 6th grade); post-intervention (spring semester of 6th grade); four months post-intervention (fall semester of 7th grade); and sixteen months post-intervention (fall semester of 8th grade).

Inclusion Criteria:

• Be enrolled at a middle school participating in the study
• Entering the middle school transition grade for the first time (6th or 7th grade depending on the middle school transition year) at a participating study school
• Provide parental consent and student assent to participate in the study
• Have the ability to complete a self-administered questionnaire in either English or Spanish in a classroom or group setting, unassisted, in 60 minutes or less.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Repeating the middle school transition year (6th or 7th grade)