Abstract
Supplementing substance use prevention with sexual health education would allow educators to address the risk and protective factors that influence both health issues. This streamlined approach may minimize the inefficiencies of multisession, single-purpose interventions. Our team developed a supplemental sexual and reproductive health (SRH) unit to align with an existing evidence-based intervention, LifeSkills Training (LST). This goal of this article is to describe our process, final product, lessons learned, and future directions. Our partner-informed approach took place across three key phases: (1) formative insights, (2) unit development, and (3) pilot implementation. The final supplemental SRH unit is ten, 45-minute sessions offered to seventh- and eighth-grade students and includes a set of learning objectives that are aligned with individual sessions. The supplemental SRH unit also mirrors existing LST modules in length, flow, layout, facilitator instructions, focus on prevention, and utilization of a student workbook. Lessons learned include strategies to effectively incorporate a wide range of ongoing feedback from multiple sources and quickly respond to staff turnover. This partnership approach serves as a model for researchers and practitioners aiming to extend the reach of existing evidence-based programs.
Highlights
Threats to adolescent health have been shown to co-occur and influence one another
LifeSkills Training (LST) for middle school is a skills-based cognitive behavioral prevention program delivered over three years during grades 6-8, with a focus on substance use and violence prevention
This paper describes the development of a supplemental sexual and reproductive health (SRH) unit for the middle school Lifeskills Training (LST) curriculum, in partnership with content experts and school personnel
Summary
Supplementing substance use prevention with sexual health education would allow educators to address the risk and protective factors that influence both health issues. In addition to mortality risk, behaviors developed during adolescence have the potential to impact long-term health and wellbeing through, for example, early unplanned childbearing, and chronic illnesses associated with sustained tobacco smoking or alcohol use [3]. These threats to long-term health are exacerbated by the fact that adolescent risk behaviors have been shown to both co-occur and influence one another [4]. School connection, parental attachment, and neighborhood collective efficacy are linked with decreased propensity for substance use and sexual risk taking [13,14,15]
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