Health Education Research, Vol. 17, No. 4, 471-481,
August 2002
© 2002 Oxford University Press
The effectiveness of school-based sex education programs in the promotion of abstinent behavior: a meta-analysis
Escuela de Administración, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Santiago, Chile
This review presents the findings from controlled school-based sex education interventions published in the last 15 years in the US. The effects of the interventions in promoting abstinent behavior reported in 12 controlled studies were included in the meta-analysis. The results of the analysis indicated a very small overall effect of the interventions in abstinent behavior. Moderator analysis could only be pursued partially because of limited information in primary research studies. Parental participation in the program, age of the participants, virgin-status of the sample, grade level, percentage of females, scope of the implementation and year of publication of the study were associated with variations in effect sizes for abstinent behavior in univariate tests. However, only parental participation and percentage of females were significant in the weighted least-squares regression analysis. The richness of a meta-analytic approach appears limited by the quality of the primary research. Unfortunately, most of the research does not employ designs to provide conclusive evidence of program effects. Suggestions to address this limitation are provided.
![]()
CiteULike
Connotea
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
K. Underhill, P. Montgomery, and D. Operario Sexual abstinence only programmes to prevent HIV infection in high income countries: systematic review BMJ, August 4, 2007; 335(7613): 248 - 248. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. Bleakley and J. A. Ellis A Role for Public Health Research in Shaping Adolescent Health Policy Am J Public Health, November 1, 2003; 93(11): 1801 - 1802. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||

