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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Erin Maloney, Communication Sciences, University of Connecticut, Colchester 103, Storrs, CT 06269, 570-947-6904, erin.k.maloney@uconn.edu

While the vast majority of the American public supports the concept of sex education in schools, the message to be delivered (safe sex or abstinence only) remains a major point of contention. This study makes use of a number of variables associated with the Information Processing Theory of persuasion to compare the effectiveness of safe sex messages versus abstinence messages provided in school sex education courses. Data for re-analysis was retrieved from the Roper Center at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. 1,501 seventh through twelfth grade students answered 41 questions regarding the curriculum covered in school education, their knowledge about reproductive health, STI's and AIDS/HIV, and their own sexual experiences in a telephone survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates for the Kaiser Family Foundation from February 25 to May 23, 1999. Results showed that neither the safe sex nor the abstinence approach was more effective in delaying the time at which adolescents will become more sexually active or increasing a sense of preparedness to understand safe sex health practices. Also, there was no significant difference between the groups in regard to their evaluations of their sex education courses overall. Students who received abstinence only messages evaluated their sex education teachers less positively and demonstrated less knowledge about sexual health than students who received safe sex messages. Suggestions for the future of sex education include changing the overall goal of the courses, developing more comprehensive programs, and implementing a special certification requirement for sex education instructors.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to

• Assess the effectiveness of abstinence-based school sex education programs versus school sex education programs that teach safe sex.
• Understand why, from an information processing perspective, elements from each type of program were or were not successful.
• List a number of variables that should be considered in the future design of school sex education programs.

Keywords: Adolescent Health, Sexual Behavior

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No