Laura Widman, PhD
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY
AREA COORDINATOR, APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Dr. Widman's research focuses primarily on adolescent sexual health, sexual communication processes, and the primary prevention of HIV and other STDs. Dr. Widman's goal is to apply psychological theories and sexual health principles to contribute to basic social science and behavioral interventions that improve the sexual health of youth.
Current Projects
If you are interested in using HEART, please contact Dr. Widman: lmwidman@ncsu.edu
HEART (Health Education and Relationship Training). HEART is an interactive, web-based sexual health program for high school students. Grounded in psychological and health behavior change theories, the purpose of this 45-minute program is to increase adolescents’ motivation and skills to engage in safer sexual behavior. The web program has five modules to enhance five areas of sexual decision-making: 1) health-related motivation, 2) HIV/STI knowledge, 3) self-efficacy, 4) social norms, and 5) sexual communication skills. Within each module, material is presented using brief bulleted text with matching audio, along with engaging features such as audio and video clips, interactive information sheets, quizzes, games, and skill-building exercises. We developed the "HEART for girls" in 2014 and adapted it for all teens ("HEART for teens") in 2017. Then in 2019, we reprogrammed HEART with an updated color scheme and more animated features. We have evaluated HEART among 3 samples of high school students and a sample of girls with emotional and behavior difficulties (see publications page for the full text of these evaluation studies). We are currently adapting this program for youth in the NC foster care system. In the coming years, we will continue to enhance the program and work on broader implementation.
Project Heart was funded by NIH/NICHD (K99/R00 HD075654, PI: Widman)
Meta-Analysis Projects. Our research team is actively involved in reviewing and synthesizing the literature on adolescent sexual health. A few examples of the meta-analyses from our team are as follows (click any topic for the full paper):
-Associations between partner sexual communication and adolescent condom use (2014)
-Associations between parent-child sexual communication and safer sex (2016)
-Effectiveness of technology-based sexual health programs for youth (2018)
-Effectiveness of parent-based interventions for adolescent sexual health (2019)
-Effectiveness of sexual health programs for Black adolescents (2020)
More meta-analyses are planned for the coming year!
The Talk. Our team is currently developing an app called TheTalk. The goal of this app is to help parents talk openly with their children about bodies, sexuality, and relationships. TheTalk will provide a step-by-step, comprehensive guide that increases parents’ confidence, upgrades their communication skills, and provides an interactive and easy platform to start these important conversations with kids.
If you are interested in more information or if you are a parent and would like to be first to get access to this new app, please join our email list! Thanks!
Past Projects
If you are interested in using PACT, please contact Dr. Hannah Javidi: hsjavidi@ncsu.edu
PACT (Promoting Affirmative Consent among Teens) is a digital sexual health intervention aimed at teaching adolescents about affirmative sexual consent. This program was created by Dr. Hannah Javidi, the most recent PhD graduate of the Teen Health Lab. This program is divided into about 10 minutes’ worth of informational videos about the basics of affirmative consent, debunking consent myths, identifying coercion, and checking in with a partner, followed by another 10 minutes’ worth of interactive activities for youth to practice the skills they had just learned. Program content was grounded in theories of health behavior change and persuasion, and designed with help from teens in usability testing sessions and informal young adult advisors. PACT was evaluated for the first time in Fall 2021 in a randomized controlled trial with a national sample of over 800 adolescents. The program was found generally acceptable and was shown to be effective in improving affirmative consent knowledge and attitudes among teens at immediate post-test, as well as significantly improving their confidence in their own ability to communicate consent affirmatively in practice.
Laura and John Arnold Foundation Grant. This study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing the HEART sexual health intervention to Healthy Minds, a growth mindset intervention for high school students designed to reduce rates of depression. In Fall 2019, we recruiting approximately 450 students from 4 North Carolina high schools to participate in this study. Students were assessed at pre-test and immediate post-test after completing either the HEART program or the Healthy Minds program. We planned to follow these youth at 12-months and 18-months to determine the longer term impact of these programs, but was halted due to COVID.
Teen Study. We are conducting this study in collaboration with the Mindset Lab at NCSU. The Teen Study is aimed at testing the efficacy of two programs for teens: one focused on sexual health and one focused on mental health. In Fall 2021, we recruited a national sample of over 800 youth ages 14-16. We followed these teens over 6 months to examine mental health and sexual health outcomes. Data analyses are currently underway. Stay tuned for findings! This project is funded by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation,
Teen Health Studies. Our lab has a number of ongoing projects related to teen health, including some recent work to tackle the opioid crisis among rural youth. We partnered with a local school district to deliver and evaluate "This is (Not) About Drugs", an opioid misuse prevention program to nearly 700 seventh grade students in Fall 2018 and Spring 2019. Initial results are promising - after taking the program, students scored significantly higher on knowledge about opioids, perceived ability to resist peer pressure around opioids, and confidence to avoid opioid misuse in the future. Next steps for us include conducting qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, and adapting the program/developing new program materials in the long term.
We have also collected data from over 900 parents with a child between the age of 13-17 to assess parent-child sexual communication and parental attitudes about sex education. Analyses from that project are ongoing.
Video Abstracts of our Work
A Qualitative Examination of Factors Impacting Foster Youths' Sexual Health and Sexuality
Identifying Gaps in Foster Parents Training on Adolescent Sexual Health
Intervention Development and Acceptability of the Redeveloped HEART Program
Teen Health Studies. Our lab has a number of ongoing projects related to teen health, including some recent work to tackle the opioid crisis among rural youth. We partnered with a local school district to deliver and evaluate "This is (Not) About Drugs", an opioid misuse prevention program to nearly 700 seventh grade students in Fall 2018 and Spring 2019. Initial results are promising - after taking the program, students scored significantly higher on knowledge about opioids, perceived ability to resist peer pressure around opioids, and confidence to avoid opioid misuse in the future. Next steps for us include conducting qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, and adapting the program/developing new program materials in the long term.
We have also collected data from over 900 parents with a child between the age of 13-17 to assess parent-child sexual communication and parental attitudes about sex education. Analyses from that project are ongoing.