Study Details

Citation

Kirby, D., Barth, R. P., Leland, N., Fetro, J. V. (1991). Reducing the Risk: Impact of a new curriculum on sexual risk-taking. Family Planning Perspectives, 23(6), 253-263.

Barth, R. P. (1992). Preventing adolescent pregnancy with social and cognitive skills. Journal of Adolescent Research, 7(2), 208-232.

Program or Component Study?
Program
Program or Component Name

Reducing the Risk

Show Evidence of Effectiveness
Yes
Study Rating and Explanation
Moderate —

Quasi-experimental study that met all criteria for a moderate rating; findings show a positive, statistically significant impact for at least one behavioral outcome

Program Information

Program Type
Sexual health education
Program Length
10 to 20 sessions

Evaluation Setting

Evaluation Setting
In school: High school

Study Sample

Average Age Group
14 to 17
Majority Racial/Ethnic Group
White
Gender
Youth of any gender

Research Design

Assignment Method
Quasi-Experimental Design
Sample Size

758

Number of Follow-Ups

3

Length of Last Follow-Up

18

Year of Last Data Collection
1990 (Imputed to year of publication minus one year)

Study Findings

Result Sexual Activity
Indeterminate evidence
Result Contraceptive
Potentially favorable evidence
Result Pregnancy
Indeterminate evidence
Reviewed Studies
Moderate-Quality Quasi-Experiment
Protocol Version
Version 1.0
Details

"The program’s evidence of effectiveness was first established in a quasi-experimental study involving high school students from rural and urban areas of northern California. Students from about half the classrooms were assigned to an intervention group that received the program. Students from the other classrooms were assigned to a comparison group that received the usual school instruction. Surveys were administered immediately before the program (baseline), immediately after the program, and again six and 18 months after the program ended.

The study found that eighteen months after the program ended, female adolescents participating in the program who were sexually inexperienced at baseline were significantly less likely to report having had sex without using birth control. The study found no statistically significant program impacts on sexual initiation for adolescents who were sexually inexperienced at baseline, having unprotected sex or pregnancy for the full sample of study participants, or having unprotected sex for male adolescents who were sexually inexperienced at baseline. For the six month follow-up survey, the study found no statistically significant program impacts on sexual initiation, recent sexual activity, contraceptive use, or pregnancy.

The study also examined program impacts on measures of STD knowledge and self-reported condom failures. Findings for these outcomes were not considered for the review because they fell outside the scope of the review."

Effect Sizes
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NA = Not available. This means the authors did not report the information in the manuscripts associated with the studies we reviewed.

a This information was not available whenever authors did not report information for the treatment and comparison groups separately on outcome means, standard deviations, and/or sample sizes.

b Authors reported that the program effect (impact) estimate is statistically significant with a p-value of less than 0.05 based on a two-tailed test.

c For some outcomes, having less of that outcome is favorable. In those cases, an effect with a negative sign is favorable to the treatment group (that is, the treatment group had a more favorable outcome than the comparison group, on average).

d An effect shows credibly estimated, statistically significant evidence whenever it has a p-value of less than 0.05 based on a two-tailed test, includes the appropriate adjustment for clustering (if applicable), and it is not based on an endogenous subgroup.