School sexuality education and adolescent risk-taking behavior.

ABSTRACT

PIP: Studies measuring the impact of school-based sex education programs on the prevention of adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases have produced inconsistent findings. In part, this may reflect the measurement problems inherent in subsuming under the term "sex education" programs that differ dramatically in terms of their goals, delivery agents, length, structure, and theoretical orientation. A reliance on self-report behavioral data and the infrequent use of unexposed control groups represent additional methodological weaknesses. Only one large-scale study has demonstrated that school sex education can be effective in delaying first intercourse. Although several studies have documented increases in knowledge among sex education course participants, they have failed to record significant increases in contraceptive usage. Most effective appear to be programs that combine a sex education curriculum with free school-based pregnancy prevention clinic services. Methodological refinements in terms of standardization of the definition of sex education, use of objective measures of behavioral change, and case-control studies are essential to facilitate the design of programs that will prevent sexual risk-taking among adolescents.