ADVOCATES FOR YOUTH

Related Resources » Science & Success—Programs that Work in Developing Countries » Science-Based Practices in Teen Pregnancy and HIV/STI Prevention: Selected Annotated Bibliography   Table of Contents Introduction Table A: Effective Programs: Impact on Adolescents’ Risk for Pregnancy, HIV, and STIs Table B: Effective Programs: Settings and Populations Served Section I. School-Based Programs ● AIDS Prevention for Adolescents in School ● Get Real about AIDS ● Postponing Sexual Involvement (Augmenting a Five-Session Human Sexuality Curriculum) ● Postponing Sexual Involvement, Human Sexuality and Health Screening ● Reach for Health Community Youth Service ● Reducing the Risk ● Safer Choices ● School / Community Program for Sexual Risk Reduction among Teens ● Seattle Social Development Project ● Self Center (School-linked health center) ● Teen Outreach Project (TOP) Section II. Community-Based Programs ● Abecedarian Project ● Adolescents Living Safely ● Be Proud! Be Responsible! ● Becoming a Responsible Teen ● California’s Adolescent Sibling Pregnancy Prevention Program ● Children’s Aid Society – Carrera Program ● Community-Level HIV Prevention for Adolescents in Low-Income Developments ● ¡Cuidate! ● Making Proud Choices! ● Poder Latino Section III. Clinic-Based Programs ● HIV Risk Reduction for African American and Latina Teenage Women ● Project SAFE (Sexual Awareness for Everyone) ● SiHLE ● Tailoring Family Planning Services to the Special Needs of Adolescents ● TLC: Together Learning Choices Glossary of Terms References Order Information

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

Full Study Report [pdf]
Executive Summary [html] [pdf]

Program Descriptions and Evaluation Results

I. School Based Programs

Over the past 20 years, school based sex education, including information about both abstinence and contraception, has been evaluated to ascertain its ability to affect behaviors that have an impact on rates of teenage pregnancy, and more recently, on rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. Evaluation has shown that some programs achieve significant behavior changes. Evaluation has also shown that sex education that includes information about both abstinence and contraception does not increase the frequency nor hasten the onset of sexual intercourse.[1,2]

This section describes 11 school-based programs with positive evaluations, including nine sex education programs and two youth development programs. Each of these programs fits the stringent criteria for inclusion in this document, as described in the introduction. Each program’s evaluation showed either a reduction in pregnancy or STI rates or an impact on at least two of the following behaviors:

• Postponement or delay of sexual initiation;
• Reduction in the frequency of sexual intercourse;
• Reduction in the number of sexual partners / increase in monogamy;
• Increase in the use of effective contraception and/or condoms;
• Reduction in the incidence of unprotected sex.

In addition, one program encouraged youth to increase their use of health care – in this case, HIV testing.

Educators interested in effective sex education programs designed for the school setting should explore replicating one of the eleven programs described in this section:

• AIDS Prevention for Adolescents in School
• Get Real About AIDS
• Postponing Sexual Involvement (Augmenting a Five-Session Human Sexuality Curriculum)
• Postponing Sexual Involvement, Human Sexuality and Health Screening
• Reach for Health Community Youth Service
• Reducing the Risk
• Safer Choices
• School/Community Program for Sexual Risk Reduction among Teens
• Seattle Social Development Project
• Self Center (School-linked health center)
• Teen Outreach Program (TOP)

Section II. Community-Based Programs

While school districts throughout the United States provide classes of varying quality and type on sex education, many communities also work to provide programs tailored especially for those youth who are out of school or whose needs are not being adequately met in schools. Following are descriptions of 10 effective community-based programs. Each program demonstrated a reduction in pregnancy and/or HIV/STI rates among youth exposed to the program. Or, the program showed an impact on at least two of the following behaviors:

• Postponement or delay of sexual initiation;
• Reduction in the frequency of sexual intercourse;
• Reduction in the number of sexual partners / increase in monogamy;
• Increase in the use of contraception and/or condoms;
• Reduction in the incidence of unprotected sex.

Each of these programs fits the stringent criteria for inclusion in this document, as described in the introduction. Program planners interested in implementing an effective, community-based sex education program should explore replicating one of the following 10 programs:

• Abecedarian Project
• Adolescents Living Safely: AIDS Awareness, Attitudes and Actions
• Be Proud! Be Responsible! A Safer Sex Curriculum
• Becoming a Responsible Teen
• California’s Adolescent Sibling Pregnancy Prevention Program
• Children’s Aid Society – Carerra Program
• Community-Level HIV Prevention for Adolescents in Low-Income Developments
• ¡Cuidate!
• Making Proud Choices!
• Poder Latino: A Community AIDS Prevention Program for Inner-City Latino Youth

Section III. Clinic-Based Programs

Clinics are uniquely positioned to meet young people’s need for confidential, low-cost family planning and HIV/STI prevention services. Clinic-based programs can help at-risk youth develop prevention strategies as well as offering low-cost medical care and access to condoms and contraception. Following are descriptions of five clinic-based programs that work. Each of these programs fits the stringent criteria for inclusion in this document, as described in the introduction. All but one program demonstrate a reduction in pregnancy and/or HIV/STI rates among youth exposed to the program. All five demonstrate an impact on at least two of the following behaviors:

• Postponement or delay of sexual initiation
• Reduction in the frequency of sexual intercourse
• Reduction in the number of sexual partners / increase in monogamy
• Increase in the use of effective methods of contraception and/or condoms
• Reduction in the incidence of unprotected sex.

Clinicians interested in implementing an effective, community-based sex education program should explore replicating one of the following five programs:

• HIV Risk Reduction for African American and Latina Teenage Women
• Project SAFE (Sexual Awareness for Everyone)
• SiHLE—STI & HIV Prevention for African American Teenage Women
• Tailoring Family Planning Services to the Special Needs of Adolescents
• TLC: Together Learning Choices

Source/Citation:
Alford S. Science and Success, Second Edition: Sex Education and Other Programs That Work to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, HIV & Sexually Transmitted Infections. Washington, DC: Advocates for Youth, 2008.

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