"Best Bets" to Prevent Pregnancies and Births:
Promote Religious Activities

Religiosity has been shown to positively influence adolescent sexual behavior through its associations with decreased likelihood of sexual initiation, teen pregnancy, and teen birth. Several studies show that male and female adolescents who regularly attend church are less likely to be sexually experienced at a young age (Halpern, Joyner, Udry, & Suchindran, 2000; Afxentiou & Hawley, 1997) and, among females, are less likely to have a teenage birth (Manlove et al., 2000). Male and female adolescents who attend church regularly and have peers attending the same church are significantly more likely to delay sexual initiation than their counterparts who do not attend church (Mott et al., 1996). In addition, female teens who report they like to attend religious services also are less likely to have sexual intercourse at an early age (Miller, Norton, et al., 1997).