The Gender Inclusive Sexuality Talks Program
Purpose
The study is centered on helping parents answer and meet the sexuality-specific questions and needs of transgender, gender diverse, lesbian or bisexual female youth. This study seeks to test the efficacy of the GIST Program as a parent-child sexuality communication intervention that educates and trains parents to be purveyors of inclusive health information as transgender, gender diverse, lesbian or bisexual female youth come of age at home.
Conditions
- HIV/STI Incidence
- Communication About Health Information
Eligibility
- Eligible Ages
- Between 12 Years and 100 Years
- Eligible Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria
Youth participants are: identify as transgender or gender diverse, or lebian or bisexual female be between ages 12-18 years able to comprehend spoken English resides in the United States consents or assents to study participation Parent participants are: the parent, legal guardians, legal custodians (hereinafter "parent") of index youth age 18 or older able to comprehend spoken English resides in the United States consents to study participation consents to their child's study participation
Exclusion Criteria
Excluded youth participants are: non-transgender or gender diverse or lesbian or bisexual female youth Excluded participants are: parents whose child does not meet eligibility criteria
Study Design
- Phase
- N/A
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Crossover Assignment
- Intervention Model Description
- Each parent will receive both study conditions: (1) the intervention workshop and (2) control videos, with sequencing order of the two arms randomized. Following completion of participation in a study arm, there will be a 4-week washout, which is sufficient to assess short-term retention while minimizing contamination across conditions.
- Primary Purpose
- Prevention
- Masking
- None (Open Label)
Arm Groups
| Arm | Description | Assigned Intervention |
|---|---|---|
|
Experimental GIST Intervention Arm |
Parents randomized to this arm will receive five, online based group sessions. |
|
|
Active Comparator Control Arm |
Parents randomized to this arm will have individual access to an online series of five modules that they can complete at their own pace. The content for each module are LGBTQ-specific health issues such as sleep hygiene, bullying, tobacco and alcohol use, and body image concerns. |
|
Recruiting Locations
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
More Details
- Status
- Recruiting
- Sponsor
- University of Pennsylvania
Detailed Description
Parental acceptance after youth come out as transgender, gender diverse, lesbian or bisexual is a protective factor for the health of this youth group; however, parents lack support in initiating and sustaining sexuality discussions inclusive of their teens' attractions, behaviors and identities. Thus, in the absence of skills and supports, adolescents' and parents' mental health, health behaviors and overall family functioning tend to be negatively impacted after sons come out as gay or bisexual. The overall objective of this study is to test the efficacy of the GIST Program (Gender Inclusive Sexuality Talks), a sexuality communication intervention for parents, after youth disclose transgender, gender diverse, lesbian or bisexual identities. We will conduct a randomized controlled trial with parent and youth dyads (N=300) to establish the efficacy of the GIST Program as a hybrid 5-session online intervention that educates parents about germane sexuality-specific topics and provide communication skills for family discussions. Our Specific Aims are to (1) determine whether the GIST Program enhances parent-adolescent sexuality communication quality (e.g. parent- and child-reported comfort) and quantity (e.g. frequency and range of topics discussed) compared to the control group, (2) establish whether the GIST Program results in decreases in mental health symptomology (e.g. depressive and anxiety symptoms) among parents and youth, increases dyadic health behavior (e.g. accessing preventive health services, health screening behaviors), and improves family functioning (e.g. affective response, communication, general functioning) over 12 months of follow-up, and (3) examine how theory-based variables (e.g. attitudes and norms, self-efficacy and intentions to discuss sexuality with transgender, gender diverse, lesbian or bisexual child) mediate the intervention effects on adolescent and parent mental health, parent-adolescent health behavior and family functioning over time.