Programs with Mixed Reviews for Delaying the Initiation of Sexual Intercourse: HIV/AIDS Education

'1. Making a Difference! A Sexual Abstinence Curriculum
Making a Difference! A Sexual Abstinence Curriculum is a community-based program for African American males and females in sixth and seventh grades. The program focuses on teaching abstinence as the best way to prevent HIV/AIDS and pregnancy. The intervention was administered in two 4-hour sessions on consecutive Saturdays in 3 Philadelphia middle schools; however, the program can be implemented in eight sessions in an after-school format. Costs for implementing the program include training for adult or peer facilitators, facilitator wages, incentives for teens ($100), and curricula ($99 plus extra costs for videos). An experimental evaluation of Making a Difference shows that participants had a lower likelihood of sexual debut three months after the intervention; however, there were no differences in sexual activity between participants and control group members twelve months after the implementation.

2. Making Proud Choices
Making Proud Choices is a community-based program for African American males and females in sixth and seventh grades. The intervention acknowledges that abstinence prevents HIV/AIDS and pregnancy, but also teaches the importance of using condoms to prevent pregnancy, STDs, and HIV/AIDS. The intervention was administered in two 4-hour sessions on consecutive Saturdays in 3 Philadelphia middle schools; however, the program can be implemented in eight sessions in an after-school format. Costs for implementing the program include training for adult or peer facilitators, facilitator wages, incentives for teens ($100), and curricula ($99 plus additional costs for videos). An experimental evaluation of Making Proud Choices intervention shows a lower frequency of unprotected intercourse at the twelve-month follow-up among teens who were sexually experienced prior to the implementation. No impacts were found for the full sample of teens or for sexually inexperienced teens who participated in the program.


 
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