Evaluation of the effect of an AIDS prevention program on high school students' sexual risk-taking behavior

The study evaluated the effects of an AIDS prevention program on 179 high school students' sexual risk-taking behavior. Young actors role modeled behaviors to reduce the risk of AIDS. Sexual risk-taking behavior was assessed prior to and 3 months after attending the program. The pre-test mean sexual risk-taking score was 1.8 (SD = 3.5) with 0 to 30 as the potential range. There were significant differences between pre- and post-test sexual risk-taking behavior for the low-risk group (< or = 1.8), Wilcoxon (127) = -4.5, p = .000, and high-risk group (> 1.8), Wilcoxon (52) = -2.2, p = .03. Findings suggest support for role modeling strategies in decreasing sexual risk-taking behavior among high school students.