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Impacts of a School-Wide, Peer-Led Approach to Sexuality Education: A Matched Comparison Group Design
Dana Rotz1, Brian Goesling2, Jennifer Manlove3
1Mathematica Policy Research, 955 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 801, Cambridge, MA 02139.
Background:
Teen Prevention Education Program (PEP) is a school-wide, peer-led comprehensive sexuality education program currently implemented in more than 50 schools across 2 states. Many teen pregnancy prevention researchers and practitioners view peer-led programs as a promising approach for reducing teen pregnancy and associated sexual risk behaviors. However, prior research on the effectiveness of these programs indicates mixed results.
Methods:
We randomly assigned schools to implement Teen PEP immediately (intervention group) or on a delayed schedule (comparison group) and used propensity score matching to improve the comparability of the study groups. We surveyed students at baseline and about 6 months after the program ended.
Results:
Teen PEP did not significantly impact rates of sexual activity or unprotected sex; however, the program led to improvements in exposure to information about sexual health topics and knowledge of preventing pregnancy and transmission of sexually transmitted infections.
Conclusions:
Teen PEP succeeded in accomplishing some of its most proximal goals, increasing students' access to information and knowledge. However, we found little evidence that the program affects sexual risk-taking within 6 months of its conclusion. Future research will examine the program's longer-term impacts on sexual risk behaviors.
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