Study Details

The program was evaluated in a randomized controlled trial involving 1,174 adolescents classified as high risk for dropping out of high school. The adolescents were recruited to participate in the study from one alternative and six traditional high schools in the Arlington Independent School District in Texas. The intervention was implemented outside the regular school day (in the afternoon and during the weekend) in a community-based setting for three consecutive days. Study surveys were administered and three, six, and twelve months after the intervention ended.

Six months after the intervention, adolescents participating in the intervention were significantly less likely than those in the study control group to report having had vaginal intercourse without using a condom in the past three months (odds ratio = 0.38, confidence interval = 0.59 to 0.79). The study found no statistically significant program impacts on having anal or oral sexual intercourse without a condom at the six-month follow-up. For the follow-up conducted 3 months after the program ended, the study found no evidence of statistically significant program impacts on having vaginal, anal, and oral sexual intercourse without a condom.

The study also examined program impacts on having sexual activity without using a condom and on ever being pregnant 12 months after the program ended. However, the findings for the 12-month follow-up did not meet the review standards because they were based on a sample with high attrition.