Study Details
Ybarra, M., Goodenow, C., Rosario, M., Saewyc, E., & Prescott, T. (2021). An mHealth intervention for pregnancy prevention for LGB teens: An RCT. Pediatrics, 147(3). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-013607
Ybarra, M., Saewyc, E., Rosario, M., & Dunsiger, S. (2023). Subgroup analyses of Girl2Girl, a text messaging-based teen pregnancy prevention program for sexual minority girls: Results from a national RCT. Prevention Science. https://doi.rg/10.1007/s11121-023-01493-6
Ybarra, M., Rosario, M., Saewyc, E., Goodenow, C., & Dunsiger, S. (2023). One-year follow-up after a pregnancy prevention intervention for LGB+ teens: An RCT. Pediatrics, 151(4). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2002-059172
Girl2Girl
Program Information
Evaluation Setting
Study Sample
Research Design
948
5
The follow-up survey occurred at intervention end, which was about 5 months after baseline and randomization.
Study Findings
NA = Not available. This means the authors did not report the information in the manuscripts associated with the studies we reviewed.
a This information was not available whenever authors did not report information for the treatment and comparison groups separately on outcome means, standard deviations, and/or sample sizes.
b Authors reported that the program effect (impact) estimate is statistically significant with a p-value of less than 0.05 based on a two-tailed test.
c For some outcomes, having less of that outcome is favorable. In those cases, an effect with a negative sign is favorable to the treatment group (that is, the treatment group had a more favorable outcome than the comparison group, on average).
d An effect shows credibly estimated, statistically significant evidence whenever it has a p-value of less than 0.05 based on a two-tailed test, includes the appropriate adjustment for clustering (if applicable), and it is not based on an endogenous subgroup.
The program was evaluated using a randomized control trial involving cisgender female youth ages 14 to 18 identifying as not exclusively heterosexual, who were recruited across the United States through Facebook and Instagram advertisements. Participants were randomly assigned to either a treatment group that received the 20-week Girl2Girl program or a control group that received similarly intense text messaging for the same length of time with content that was not focused on preventing teen pregnancy. Surveys were administered immediately after enrollment, which was right before the program started (baseline), immediately after the 20-week program ended (five months after study enrollment), and then three months, six months, nine months, and 12 months since program end (eight months, 11 months, 14 months, and 17 months after study enrollment).
The study found that at program end, teen girls participating in the program reported having used condoms while having sex significantly more often than the control group had in the past three months (effect size = 0.03) and reported significantly fewer sex acts without a condom in the past three months (effect size = -0.05). Those program effects held for the full sample and the subgroup that was sexually active at baseline (effect sizes = 0.05 and -0.29, respectively, for the subgroup on condom use during sex and having fewer sex acts without a condom).
The study also found that at program end, teen girls participating in the program and those in the control group were not significantly different from each other in their reporting of abstaining from penile-vaginal sex in the past three months. Those null findings held for the full sample and the subgroup that was sexually active at baseline. In addition, the study found that for the full sample and the sexually active subgroup, at program end, teen girls participating in the program and those in the control group were not significantly different from each other in their report of pregnancy since program enrollment.
The study also examined program impacts at three, six, nine, and 12 months after the program ended on several sexual behavior outcomes for the full sample as well as some subgroups. Findings for these outcomes were not considered because of the inclusion of a covariate that could have been affected by the program, introducing a concern about endogeneity.
Additionally, the study examined program impacts on current birth control use (outside of sexual activity), intentions to use condoms, intentions to use birth control, and intentions to abstain from sex. Findings for these outcomes were not considered because they fell outside the scope of the review.