Developing, implementing, and evaluating a public service announcement (PSA) campaign to delay sexual activity in adolescents: The challenge and promise

Health communication researchers are increasingly teaming up with public health organizations to develop and implement PSA campaigns which succeed at changing a variety of health-related behaviors (e.g., diet, physical activity, condom use). While campaigns have been implemented to delay sexual activity, until now, none that we are aware of has been both based on health communication theory and rigorously evaluated.

In the last 4 years, an intensive theory-based, televised PSA campaign to delay initiation of sexual activity was developed using formative research, and implemented in two racially diverse cities in the southeastern United States (Charleston, SC and Augusta, GA). We designed PSAs using the Sensation-Seeking Targeting (SENTAR) approach, with content based on our Multiple Domain Model, an extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior. One intensive three-month campaign was implemented in each city, within an interrupted time series design over a 21-month period of data collection. In this presentation, we discuss difficulties in recruiting school systems for collaboration, the complexities of working with school systems to gain access to early adolescents (ages 11-14) for formative work and surveys, challenges in recruiting students for surveys; and options for data analysis and interpretation of results.

Results suggest that the Charleston (but not the Augusta) campaign affected several mediators of sexual activity, reduced pre-intercourse sexual activity, and delayed sexual initiation, for White but not for Black adolescents. We discuss possible explanations for this significant but limited campaign impact, and propose recommendations for future PSA campaigns designed to delay initiation of intercourse.