Informed Consent for Transitions

Oregon Youth Development Project’s Enhanced Intervention for Parents

You are invited to be part of the Transitions program, which is the parent support part of the Oregon Youth Development Project. You were selected for this invitation because your child’s school was randomly selected to be included in the research to evaluate the enhanced intervention for parents. This project is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in an award given to Northwest Family Services (NWFS), a nonprofit agency. Before you decide whether you want to take part in Transitions, you need to read this Informed Consent Form. As is customary, this form also tells you who can be in the study, the risks and benefits of the study, how we will protect your information, and who to call if you have questions.

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to demonstrate the effects of a school-based program for youth combined with a related program of support for parents. The parent enrichment component was selected because 8th graders will be transitioning into high school with increasing incidences of teen risk behavior (e.g., sexual activity, drugs, alcohol, gangs, school drop out). For every risk behavior, children are less likely to engage in the behavior if their parents are involved, communicating with them, and setting limits. The Transitions program is designed to help parents help their children prepare, starting in 8th grade, to be more successful in high school.

Program: All support is free of charge. Parent support may include workshops, family engagement events, webinars, e-newsletters, websites (www.talktothem.org), and/or talking with program leaders about some of the same topics the youth are learning about in the school program. A “webinar” is a class that individuals can participate in through a specific Internet location. Parents are not required to participate in any of these activities, even if they accept this terms and conditions.

NWFS staff will offer parent workshops at your child’s school using How to Teach the FACTS of Life as well as Love and Logic. These classes will be offered in both English and Spanish as needed. The length will be two nights/2 hours each for a total of 8 hours for the two programs (How to Teach the FACTS of Life and Love and Logic). The information from these programs will be tied back to the lessons your children are learning. Love and Logic is a way of working with children that puts parents back in control, teaches children to be responsible, and prepares young people to live in the real world, with its many choices and consequences. How to Teach the FACTS of Life is a parent program developed by NWFS. Using interactive techniques, the curricula covers information and skills parents need about adolescent maturity (e.g., the relationship between brain development and poor decision-making), information about teen sexual behavior and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), parenting styles especially the benefits of the authoritative parenting style, communication techniques, monitoring methods (e.g., friends, dating, media, drugs, alcohol), the benefits of abstinence, and parent-child decision-making strategies. These same workshops will be offered in a shorter interactive “webinar” format on a regular basis to make them more accessible for parents.

In addition, NWFS staff will offer family interactive events at your child’s school. While the main purpose will be to increase parent-teen connectedness, parent resources will be available and NWFS staff will be present to interact with the families. The type of event may vary slightly according to the school community; however, the evenings will be interactive events such as family volleyball or game nights. The level of participation and the type of participation will be studied to determine which elements, and what level or amount of participation was most closely associated with positive outcomes for the youth.

Tracking: Attendance will be taken and tracked to measure participation. Students and parents initially will be linked by names, which will be confidential and which will not be included with outcome data. When parents participate in this project, their participation will be tracked by name (e.g., signed home work will have the parent’s and the child’s name, signing up for an e-newsletter or for a webinar will be by name, attendance at workshops and family events will be tracked by name). The teachers, group leaders, and NWFS staff directly involved in the parent enrichment activities will know the names of the parents but the research assistant will enter the parental participation data using the confidential codes rather than names. This will be done in accord with standard practices for protection of confidentiality for human subjects in research.

Confidential: All parents who attend the Transition program will be invited to complete a very brief (one page) questionnaire at the first and last sessions. The questions are multiple choice and they all ask about communication between parent and adolescent child. It usually takes about 10 minutes or less to complete the questionnaire. All the questionnaire answers will be kept private. Any information that is obtained in connection with this study and that can be identified with you or your child will be kept confidential.

Potential Risks: Although very unlikely, some of the questions may seem personal or make you feel uncomfortable and there is a risk that your answers could be seen by someone else other than the project staff, which might cause embarrassment, but we promise to do our best to keep this from happening. We will protect confidentiality by allowing you to skip questions if you wish, or to stop filling out the questionnaire if you wish.

NWFS project staff will make sure the surveys are stored securely. Electronic files with data will be stored on password protected computers. Project staff will be taught the importance of protecting confidentiality and privacy in any verbal communications.

Benefits: It is expected that all participating parents will benefit by gaining knowledge and skills related to communicating with and guiding adolescent children and that this, in turn, will help the youth be successful in high school. Research shows that youth who have close parental ties, frequent parent-child interaction, and who receive clear direction, limits, and consequences about behavior choices take fewer negative risks. However, we cannot guarantee that you or your child will receive any benefits from this research. It is expected that the results will help us understand how to improve parent support as it relates to youth development programs.

If you have any questions about the evaluation of the project, please feel free to contact the evaluator, Tary Tobin, Ph.D. You may contact her in any of the following ways: Write to her at 1235 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1235, or send email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call (541) 346-1423.

If you have questions about the activities that will be provided by Northwest Family Services, call (503) 546-6377 and ask to speak with Iliana Fontal, the Research Assistant for Transitions and for the Oregon Youth Development Project. You also may write to Northwest Family Services, Attn. Iliana Fontal, Oregon Youth Development Project, 6200 SE King Rd., Portland, Oregon 97222 or send e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

If you have questions regarding your rights as a research subject, contact the Office for Protection of Human Subjects. Here is the contact information for this office:

Phone: (541) 346-2510; FAX: (541) 346-6224

E-mail: See contact form online at http://www.uoregon.edu/~humansub/contact.htm

Mailing Address: Riverfront Research Park, 1600 Millrace Drive, Suite 105, 5237 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-5237.

Your acceptance of this terms and conditions indicates that you have read the Informed Consent for “Transitions: Oregon Youth Development Project’s Enhanced Intervention for Parents,” understand the information provided above, and, that you willingly agree to participate, that you may withdraw your consent at any time and discontinue participation without penalty, and that you are not waiving any legal claims, rights or remedies. Refusal to allow participation will involve no loss of benefits or services that you, or your child, are entitled to at the school or elsewhere.