Improving Sexual Risk Communication With Adolescents Using Event History Calendars

Abstract

This study was conducted to explore the effects of an event history calendar (EHC) approach on adolescent sexual risk communication and sexual activity. Adolescent school-linked health clinic patients (n = 30) who reported sexual activity self-administered the EHC that was used by nurse practitioners (NPs; n = 2) during a clinic visit. Immediately pre- and post-visit, and at 1 and 3 months, adolescents reported sexual risk behaviors and perceptions about EHC communication on questionnaires and by interview. NPs reported their perceptions of EHCs by questionnaire after the visit and poststudy interview. The EHC approach facilitated communication and adolescent awareness of their risk behaviors. Scores increased on Amount of Communication, t(29) = 8.174, p < .001; Satisfaction with Communication, t(29) = 3.112, p = .004; Client Involvement in Decision Making, t(29) = 3.901, p = .001, and Client Satisfaction with Interpersonal Style, t(29) = 3.763, p = .001. Adolescents reported decreased sexual intercourse at 1 month, p = .031. School nurses could use the EHC approach to facilitate adolescent communication and tailoring of interventions.

Assessing Recent Adolescent Sexual Risk Using a Sexual Health History Calendar: Results From a Mixed Method Feasibility Study

“…However, these preliminary findings are encouraging and build on previous research by Martyn and colleagues (Martyn & Martin, 2003;Martyn et al, 2006;Martyn et al, 2011) to provide direction for further testing of this instrument. Future studies should explore ways the SHHC could be modified to be more easily administered with specific subgroups of young people who may be unable to complete it independently (e.g., patients at different reading levels, those with emotional or other disabilities).…”

Patient-Centered Communication and Health Assessment With Youth

“…Past work using the EHCs with adolescents have demonstrated improved communication scores with five scales constructed by Martyn and colleagues (2012a) to evaluate amount of communication, satisfaction with communication, mutuality of communication, client involvement in decision-making, and client satisfaction with interpersonal style. The independent variables included in this study were the youth participant’s intervention group (EHC versus GAPS) and descriptive demographic measures (e.g., age, race, ethnicity, gender, education, employment, living situation, health insurance, and past healthcare interactions).…”

“…This study utilized modified versions of the communication scales originally used by Martyn and colleagues (2012a) in which problematic questions or those that elicited a lower reliability in the previous study were changed or removed. All questions are scored on a Likert response scale from 1 to 5 with a score of 5 indicating maximum quantity (e.g.…”

“…Previous work with adolescents has evaluated the interaction between an adolescent patient and their healthcare provider (AAPIS; Woods et al, 2006), while past work with adults has investigated the patient’s perception of patient-centeredness (PPPC; Stewart, Meredith, Ryan, & Brown, 2004). Additionally, the EHC has demonstrated improved communication scores about sexual risk behaviors in the domains of amount, satisfaction, support, client involvement in decision-making, and client satisfaction with interpersonal style due to the inclusion of open-ended responses and contextually-relevant cues (Martyn et al, 2012a). However, there is a gap in the literature evaluating patient-centered communication among youth during health promotion visits using interventional tools and both objective and subject reports.…”

Comparison of Adolescents' Reports of Sexual Behavior on a Survey and Sexual Health History Calendar

“…In the first known studies to apply a life or event history calendar to assess adolescent sexual risk, Martyn and colleagues found that adolescents' recall of risk-taking behaviors over the previous 6 to 10 years and perceptions of communication with providers could be enhanced using an event history calendar without increasing the scheduling or resource burden for staff. Results indicated that youth reporting sexual activities on the calendar were prone to reflect on their levels of risk and express the intention to change their risky behaviors (Martyn, Reifsnider, & Murray, 2006;Martyn et al, 2011). In general, participants using the EHC reported satisfaction with the instrument as well as ease of use, with time of completion ranging from 5 minutes to 1 hour; and nurse interviewers described the ease with which it allowed them to discuss patterns of risk as well as triggers for sexual behaviors with patients (Martyn & Martin, 2003).…”