Study Details

Citation

Dierschke, N., Gelfond, J., Lowe, D., Schenken, R.S., and Plastino, K. (2015). "Evaluation of Need to Know (N2K) in South Texas: Findings From an Innovative Demonstration Program for Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program." San Antonio, Texas: The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Gelfond, J., Dierschke, N., Lowe, D., Plastino, K. (2016). Preventing pregnancy in high school students: Observations from a 3-year longitudinal, quasi-experimental study. American Journal of Public Health, 106, S97-S102. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2016.303379

Program or Component Study?
Program
Program or Component Name

Need to Know (N2K)

Show Evidence of Effectiveness
No
Study Rating and Explanation
Moderate —

Quasi-experimental study that met all criteria for a moderate rating; findings show no positive, statistically significant impact on a relevant behavioral outcome measure for either the full sample or key subgroups

Program Information

Program Type
Positive youth development
Sexual health education
Program Length
More than 20 sessions

Evaluation Setting

Evaluation Setting
In school: High school

Study Sample

Average Age Group
14 to 17
Majority Racial/Ethnic Group
Hispanic or Latino
Sex
Male and female youth

Research Design

Assignment Method
Quasi-Experimental Design
Sample Size

784

Number of Follow-Ups

3

Length of Last Follow-Up

24

Year of Last Data Collection
2015

Study Findings

Result Sexual Activity
Indeterminate evidence
Result Contraceptive Use
Indeterminate evidence
Result Pregnancy
Indeterminate evidence
Reviewed Studies
Moderate-Quality Quasi-Experiment
Protocol Version
Version 5.0
Details

This study evaluated the program using a quasi-experimental design that involved 784 9th grade youth attending one of two participating schools in South Texas. Students in the treatment group received Need 2 Know in the 9th, 10th, and 11th grades. Students in the control group did not receive any school-based sex education. The study administered surveys in the fall of grade 9 before the program began (baseline), at the end of 9th grade, at the end of 10th grade, and the end of 11th grade.

The study found no statistically significant impacts on having sex without a condom or birth control or sexual initiation among sexually inexperienced youth at baseline across the three follow-up periods. The study also found no statistically significant program impacts on ever being pregnant or getting someone pregnant by the end of 11th grade.

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.

Language directly from the program model developer or authors.