Guy Talk

Evidence Type:

Evidence-informed programs

Client outcomes:

Decision-making and problem-solving
Self-efficacy and confidence

Location:

North America

Strength of evidence:

Mixed research evidence (with no adverse effects)

Direction of effect:

Mixed

About the program

Guy Talk is a gender-specific intervention for early adolescent males. The program focuses on developing and maintaining meaningful relationships and making informed choices about family options and relationships. Guy Talk promotes competencies that specially equip young male adolescents and address a range of risk factors including factors associated with sexual risk behaviours. The program is based on a research-based, developmentally appropriate, skill-building curriculum tailored to the gender-specific concerns of adolescent males.

Who does it work for?

Guy Talk is designed for male youth aged 14-17. Participants were an average of 14 years old. The majority of both the intervention group and control groups were Hispanic/Latino (74.4% and 69.9% respectively). Guy Talk has only been evaluated in the USA. A randomized control trial (LeCroy et al., 2021) was conducted with 405 participants (222 in the intervention group and 183 in the control group).

Guy Talk has not been evaluated in Australia or with Aboriginal Australians.

What outcomes does it contribute to?

Positive:

Guy Talk participants had increased social skills self-efficacy
Guy Talk participants had improved attitudes towards sexual control (sexual control as in sexual aggression, not as in ability to abstain from sex)
Guy Talk participants’ peer assertiveness improved

No effect:

The program had no effect on participants’ attitudes about women
The program had no effect on participants’ perceptions of masculinity
The program had no effect on condom beliefs
The program had no effect on attitudes towards asking for consent

How effective is it?

Overall, Guy Talk had a mixed effect on client outcomes.

How strong is the evidence?

Mixed research evidence (with no adverse effects):

At least one high-quality randomised controlled trial (RCT)/quasi-experimental design (QED) study reports statistically significant positive effects for at least one outcome, AND
An equal number or more RCT/QED studies of similar size and quality show no observed effects than show statistically significant positive effects, AND
No RCT/QED studies show statistically significant adverse effects.

How is it implemented?

Guy Talk is delivered for a total of 10 hours in high schools, youth clubs or social service sites.

Groups comprise 10-15 participants and are led by a trained adult male facilitator. The program includes interactive lessons, small and large group discussions, small group practice and individual and paired activities.

8 sessions include the following content:

Understanding gender-role expectations
Managing emotions and feelings
Building positive peer groups, friendships, and leadership skills
Managing relationships
Establishing independence through responsible decision making
Understanding healthy sexuality
Learning to obtain help and access resources
Developing life skills for the future

How much does it cost?

The costs for Guy Talk were not reported in the study.

Where does the evidence come from?

1 RCT conducted in the USA with 405 participants (LeCroy et al., 2021).

Further resources

LeCroy, CW, Milligan-LeCroy, S, & Lopez, D 2021, ‘Guy talk: a gender-specific sexual education program to reduce sexual risk behaviors with high school males’, Health Education & Behavior, in press, https://doi.org/10.1177/10901981211010441

The following studies are particularly relevant to the program:

Guy Talk is similar to ‘Wise Guys’ for younger males. ‘Wise Guys’ has been evaluated by Gruchow & Brown:

Gruchow, HW, & Brown, RK 2011, ‘Evaluation of the Wise Guys male responsibility curriculum: Participant-control comparisons’, Journal of School Health, vol. 81, pp. 152–158, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2010.00574.x

The Guy Talk program curriculum includes key components of the Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education developed by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States:

Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States 2004, The Guidelines for comprehensive sexuality education, 3rd edn, Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, Washington, D.C., https://siecus.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Guidelines-CSE.pdf