Middle school healthy-relationships program with optional text-message boosters to prevent dating violence

Long-term effectiveness of a middle school dating violence prevention evaluation with and without an SMS booster

['FUNDING_R01'] · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON · NIH-11144532

A 7th-grade healthy-relationships program plus optional text-message reminders aims to help teens avoid dating violence as they become young adults.

Quick facts

Phase['FUNDING_R01']
Study typeNih_funding
SexAll
SponsorUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON (nih funded)
Locations1 site (HOUSTON, UNITED STATES)
Trial IDNIH-11144532 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this research studies

This project follows students who took part in a middle-school healthy-relationships program to see how they are doing as young adults about eight years later. Researchers will collect four additional years of annual follow-ups, add information about school and neighborhood factors, and compare long-term outcomes. Half of the original students who received the program will be sent a text-message booster and compared with those who did not receive the booster. The study focuses on behaviors and harms related to dating violence and related mental health and social outcomes.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: Ideal candidates are people who were enrolled in the original 7th-grade randomized trial and can be reached for annual follow-up (now roughly around age 21).

Not a fit: People who were not part of the original trial or who cannot be contacted for follow-up would not receive the intervention or booster and are unlikely to benefit from this grant's activities.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, the program and text-message boosters could lower rates of teen dating abuse and reduce long-term mental, physical, and social harms.

How similar studies have performed: The original randomized trial of the 7th-grade Fourth R program showed reduced perpetration of dating violence, while using long-term SMS boosters is a newer approach with less prior evidence.

Where this research is happening

HOUSTON, UNITED STATES

Researchers

About this research

  1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
  2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
  3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.

View on NIH RePORTER →

Last reviewed 2026-05-15 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.