Five Years of Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Education: Assessing the Impact [PDF]

Name of Program: Life's Walk*

Federal Funding Source: Section 510(b) of Title V of the Social Security Act (the state entitlement for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs established under "Welfare Reform" in 1996)

Funding Allocated: Missouri received $713,665 in Title V abstinence-only federal funding in FY 2003. Missouri sub-grantees makeup the state's match (three state dollars for every four federal dollars) required by federal law.[2] Life's Walk is funded under this program; Advocates for Youth was unable to ascertain the exact amount of Title V funds allocated to the Life's Walk Program.

Program Reach/Program Components:Life's Walk is administered in public schools in six rural counties of northwest Missouri. Goals are to improve adolescent-parent communication about sex, increase factual knowledge about sex, increase students' understanding of the realities of teen parenthood, and foster the belief that abstinence is the best way to avoid the negative consequences of early sexual activity.[17]

Each program implements an abstinence-only curriculum, including Choices I, taught in eighth grade, and Choices II, taught in 10th grade. Classes last approximately three weeks and include lectures, videos, topics for research and discussion, role-playing and experience with the Baby Think It Over infant simulators.[17]

Target Population: 8th graders and 10th graders

Timing of Program/Evaluation: 1999-2000 academic year

Evaluation Design: Two evaluations were conducted. The first was a pre- and posttest design, with 191 eighth graders and 80 tenth graders (total n=271) from 17 schools. The second evaluation was a quasi-experimental design, with 56 eighth grade students receiving the intervention and 30 eighth grade students serving as wait-list comparisons (total n=86). Students were assigned ("mostly" at random) to take Health Class (Life's Walk) in the fall or to receive Health in the spring (comparison group). Assessment occurred four months after the experimental group took the class and one day prior to the comparison group's beginning the course.[17]

Findings: Pre- and Posttest Design/First Evaluation: There was no overall change in student attitudes, although the evaluation found two changes that had marginal statistical significance: eighth grade girls became somewhat less abstinence-oriented and 10th grade boys somewhat more abstinence-oriented. There were gains in knowledge. There was a statistically significant increase in sexual behavior from pre- to posttest; the increase occurred for both genders, but was larger for males than for females.[17]

Quasi experimental Design: The experimental group scored higher than the comparison group on the knowledge scales. There were no statistically significant effects of the intervention on participants' communication or attitudes. There were no statistically significant differences between the experimental and comparison group with respect to reported sexual behavior.[17]

Significant Quotes from Authors of the Evaluation Study:

• At this point . . . it seems clear that the abstinence-only philosophy and the Baby Think it over technique may have popular support, but lack evidence of effectiveness.[18] [p. 6]
• These results confirmed previous research that found no evidence that abstinence-only programs change adolescent sexual behavior.[17] [p. 267]

*Life's Walk is a part of the Missouri Abstinence-Only Program, administered by the Missouri Department of Health. There are 13 sub-grantees, using a variety of curricula. Advocates for Youth found published evaluation results only for the Life's Walk program.

Source/Citation:
Hauser D. Five Years of Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Education: Assessing the Impact. Washington, DC: Advocates for Youth, 2004.