Postponing sexual intercourse among urban junior high school students - a randomized controlled evaluation

• Published in: The Canadian journal of human sexuality 2000-06, Vol.9 (2), p.121
• Main Author: McKay, Alexander
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Assertiveness; Contraception; Control Groups; Females; Grade 7; Grade 8; High School Students; Influence; Junior high school students; Males; Peer Influence; Pregnancy; Randomized Controlled Trials; Self Efficacy; Sex education; Sexual abstinence; Sexual behavior; Sexual behavior surveys; Sexuality; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Study and teaching; Teenagers; Youth
• ISSN: 1188-4517; 2291-7063

At baseline, most female students (81%) but less than half of male students (44%) reported that they had never had intercourse. At all three follow-ups, girls in the intervention group were less likely to experience first intercourse than girls in the control group and this difference was statistically significant at the first and the final (15 month) follow-ups. There were no significant differences between the intervention and control groups in intercourse experience among males at any of the follow-ups. For sexually active students at all three follow-ups, intervention group females were more likely to use birth control at last intercourse than control group females. However, for sexually active males, there were no differences between the intervention and control groups for use of birth control at last intercourse at the three follow-ups. Although, at all three follow-ups, intervention females were more likely than their control group counterparts to report that they "definitely" would not have sex in the next six months, the difference between the two groups was significant only at the first follow-up. Similarly, intervention females were more likely to report that they could refuse sex with their boyfriend if they did not feel ready but the difference was again only significant at the first follow-up.