Effectiveness of teen pregnancy evidence based curricula with disconnected youth

Purpose.  The Connections Project is a multi-site, three year study in Texas examining the efficacy of evidence based teen pregnancy prevention curricula (EBPs) with “disconnected youth” including youth in foster care, juvenile detention, substance use treatment and homeless shelters.  At each of the six sites, youth receive either Making Proud Choices or Be Proud! Be Responsible!curricula. This study examines findings from the first year of the project.

Methods.  Youth (n=160) complete a pre and post-test to collect demographic information and information regarding their sexual health knowledge and behavioral intent.  Surveys contain multiple validated scales as well as required information from the funder.  Descriptive statistics and paired sample t-tests were conducted.

Results.  Across all sites, 86% of youth reported having had sexual intercourse.  The median age of youth was 15.39.  Findings suggest the curricula are improving knowledge of sexual health and some aspects of behavioral intent.  Youth showed statistically significant increases in knowledge of HIV/STIs, condoms and pregnancy.  They also showed statistically significant increases in their intent to abstain from sex in the next six months.  However, youth did not increase in their perceived self-efficacy to negotiate condom use.

Conclusions and Implications.  Initial findings from this multi-year study suggest that both Making Proud Choices and Be Proud! Be Responsible! are increasing the sexual health knowledge and likelihood of positive sexual health behaviors for disconnected youth.  However, self-efficacy of condom usage with these youth has not improved.