Families Talking Together

The program's evidence of effectiveness was first established in a randomized controlled trial involving African American and Latino adolescents recruited in the waiting room of a community-based pediatric health clinic in the Bronx borough of New York City. The adolescents and their mothers were randomly assigned to either a treatment group that was offered the program or to a control group offered the current standard of care. Surveys were administered immediately before random assignment (baseline) and again nine months later.

The study found that nine months after the program ended, adolescents in the treatment group were statistically significantly less likely to report ever having engaged in vaginal intercourse and a significantly lower frequency of sexual intercourse in the past 30 days. The study found no statistically significant program impacts on rates of oral sex.

A separate study by the same group of researchers evaluated the effectiveness of Families Talking Together (FTT) relative to another teen pregnancy prevention program, Making a Difference (MAD). The study used a randomized controlled trial involving Latino and African American adolescents from five New York City middle schools. The adolescents and their mothers were randomly assigned to one of three research groups: (1) a group receiving FTT alone, (2) a group receiving MAD alone, or (3) a group receiving both FTT and MAD together. The programs were offered after school and on weekends, outside of regular school hours. Surveys were administered immediately before random assignment (baseline) and 12 months later.

The study found that at the time of the 12-month follow-up survey, there was no statistically significant difference in rates of sexual intercourse between students in the group that received FTT and those in the group that received MAD. The study also examined program impacts on frequency of intercourse. Findings for this outcome were not considered for the review because they did not meet the review evidence standards. Specifically, findings were reported only for subgroups of youth defined by sexual activity at follow-up. Program impacts were also examined on measures of mother-adolescent communication, maternal monitoring and supervision, perceived maternal expertise and trustworthiness, satisfaction with mother-adolescent relationship, and social desirability tendencies. Findings for these outcomes were not considered for the review because they fell outside the scope of the review.

This study used a randomized controlled trial involving Hispanic or African American youth ages 11–14. Mothers and their children were recruited as dyads from a pediatric clinic in the New York City area. Dyads were randomly assigned to either a treatment group that received the Families Talking Together program or to a control group that did not receive any program. During the 45–60-minute single-session program, health care providers discussed sexual risks for teenagers and the importance of good parent-adolescent communication on these topics. In addition, parents were given program materials and encouraged to use them to talk to their children about the program's content. This was followed by one phone call at one-month post-program to check in with the parents and encourage them once more to talk to their children. Data from parents and children were collected immediately before the program (baseline), and three months and 12 months after study enrollment. The study found that 12 months after enrolling in the study, teenagers who participated in the program were significantly less likely to report having had vaginal sex (effect size = -0.84) and having had their sexual debut in the past 12 months (effect size = -0.76). The study also examined program impacts on the children's knowledge about healthy relationships and dating; their self-esteem; attitudes and knowledge about leadership; healthy life skills; knowledge about the process of career and decision making; knowledge about career readiness, college readiness, sexual risk, and condom use; confidence in

This study used a randomized controlled trial involving medically underserved youth ages 11–14. Parents and their children were recruited as dyads from 22 after-school programs and 19 charter schools in the Houston, Texas, area. Dyads were randomly assigned to either an intervention group that received Families Talk Together and HPV vaccination education program (FTT + HPV) or a control group that received a program on strategies to prevent obesity. Parents of youth in both groups received an approximately 45-minute program from student nurses, took the materials home, and were encouraged to use them to talk to their children. This initial treatment was followed by two phone calls at one month and three months post-program to monitor parents' progress and support them with any communication problems. Data from parents and children were collected immediately before the program (baseline), and at one month and six months after study enrollment. The study found at both one month and six