Science and Success, Second Edition: Sex Education and Other Programs that Work to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections

Full Study Report [HTML] [PDF]
Executive Summary [HTML] [PDF]

Program Components

• HIV risk reduction curriculum
• Fifteen sessions, each lasting one class period and delivered over consecutive days
• Experiential activities included to build skills in refusal, communication, and using condoms
• Activities to reach more youth, such as making public service announcements (PSAs) and distributing wallet-size HIV information cards
• Educator training recommended

For Use With

• High school students in grades nine through 12
• Urban, suburban, and rural youth
• Sexually active youth
• Multiethnic populations – white and Hispanic youth

Evaluation Methodology

• Quasi-experimental design, including treatment and comparison conditions, in 17 schools in Colorado, including two alternative schools
• Rural, urban, and suburban youth (n=2,015 at baseline; n=1,816 at two-month follow-up; n=1,477 at six-months follow-up); average age 15.0
• Pretest and two- and six-month follow-up assessment

Evaluation Findings

• Reduced number of sex partners
• Increased condom use

Evaluators' comments: Skills-based HIV risk reduction programs should be implemented before the onset of sexual activity and continued through high school. They should be taught by trained teachers who are comfortable teaching skills-based HIV curricula and programs and [they] should be taught in their entirety… If anything less than this occurs, the impact of the programs will likely be minimal…
Source: Main, Iverson, McGloin et al, 1994

Program Description

Get Real about AIDS is a skills-based, HIV risk reduction curriculum designed for high school students. It consists of 15 sessions delivered over consecutive days. It utilizes interactive activities, such as discussions, role-playing, simulation, and videos, to give teens the knowledge and skills to reduce their risk of HIV infection. The goal of Get Real about AIDS is to reduce sexual risk behaviors by delaying the initiation of sex. The goal for youth who choose to have sex is to encourage them to abstain from drug use, use condoms consistently and correctly, practice monogamy, and get tested for HIV. Class lessons are reinforced through activities implemented by teachers, such as displaying posters and distributing wallet cards with HIV information. This intervention is based on social cognitive theory and the theory of reasoned action.[4]

Evaluation Methodology

Seventeen high schools in six Colorado school districts were assigned to intervention (n=10) or comparison (n=7) groups. Two were alternative schools. One alternative school was included in the intervention group and one in the comparison group. Within each district, intervention and comparison schools were matched as closely as possible with respect to grade, gender, and racial/ethnic distribution. In comparison schools, teachers were encouraged to offer their usual HIV prevention programs. In fact, four comparison schools offered no HIV education. The remaining comparison schools offered minimal HIV education. Teachers for the intervention program received a five-day, 40-hour training, designed to enhance fidelity to the written curriculum. Students completed a baseline survey (n=2,015), a follow-up survey at two months post-intervention (n=1,816), and another at six-months post-intervention (n=1,477).[4]

At baseline, 65 percent of students were white; 21 percent were Hispanic; six percent were black; and three percent were Asian. Forty-nine percent were female. Students' average age was 15; and 60 percent of youth were in ninth grade. At baseline, 44 percent of students indicated that they had had sexual intercourse. Less than two percent said they had injected drugs. Students' self-reports, comparing baseline and follow-up results at two and six months post-intervention, were used to determine the program's effectiveness.[4]

Outcomes

• Knowledge—At six-month follow-up, students in intervention classes scored significantly higher on knowledge of HIV and HIV prevention, relative to those in the comparison group.[4]
• Attitudes and perceptions—At six-month follow-up, students in intervention classes demonstrated significantly healthier intentions than did youth in comparison classes, especially their intentions to engage in sex less often and to use a condom when they have sexual intercourse.[4]
• Behaviors—
  • Reduced number of sexual partners—At six-month follow-up, sexually active intervention students reported significantly fewer sex partners within the past two months than did those in comparison schools.[4]
  • Increased condom use—At six-month follow-up, sexually active intervention students reported significantly more frequent use of condoms during sexual intercourse in the past two months than did those in comparison schools.[4]
  • Increased condom purchases—At six-month follow-up, students in intervention classes were more likely than those in comparison schools to report purchasing a condom.[4]
  • Timing of sexual initiation unaffected—The intervention did not significantly postpone the initiation of sexual intercourse among participants, relative to comparison youth, measured at six-month follow-up.[4]
  • Frequency of sex and use of alcohol and other drugs unaffected—At six-month follow-up, the intervention had not reduced the frequency of sex among sexually experienced students nor had it reduced their use of alcohol and other drugs before having sex.[4]

For More Information or to Order, Contact

• Sociometrics, Program Archive on Sexuality, Health & Adolescence: Phone, 1.800.846.3475; Fax, 1.650.949.3299; E-mail, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; Web, http://www.socio.com