Motivational Interviewing for Getting Healthy TodaY Study

Most teen pregnancies (82%) in the United States are unintended. Actively engaging young men in preventing teen pregnancy is a necessary and central component to effecting change. Young men, aged 15-19 and 20-24 years, father most of the children born to teen mothers. Few interventions have been designed specifically or shown to be effective for young men in reducing teen pregnancy. Counseling and feedback based on Motivational Interviewing (MI) principles demonstrated greater success than standard, didactic advice in several domains of behavior change. The effectiveness of this type of counseling to alter young men's sexual and contraceptive behaviors has not been rigorously evaluated. Participants will be randomly chosen (like flipping a coin) to take part in one of the two MI projects, and you will get coaching and use an app for that project to improve your health. One project is on teen pregnancy prevention and the other is on healthy eating, physical activity, and avoiding cigarettes. Participants will use an app via phone to do the project, answer survey questions, keep track of health, and learn more about healthy behaviors. Three hundred young men, ages 15 to 24 years, will be randomized to one of two intervention arms, a modified CAMI aimed at Teen Pregnancy Prevention (CAMI-TPP) or a CAMI aimed at healthy diet, physical activity and tobacco avoidance (CAMI-Fitness). The two interventions are identical in length and timing but vary in the target behavior focus (pregnancy prevention versus fitness).