Landmark US study finds abstinence-only programs may have merit

February 2, 2010 by Shawn Douglas
Filed under: News

A recently published study has found that ‘theory-based’ abstinence-only programs may postpone sexual behavior in adolescents.

The first clear evidence that abstinence-only education works has arrived in the form of a study sponsored by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health.

The results, published in the February issue of the journal Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, found that an education program that does not take a moralistic tone, does not disparage condom use, and does encourage waiting to have sex until ready (not necessarily until married) was effective.

The study focused on 662 African-American students between grades six and seven in the northeastern United States. Those students were randomly assigned to one of five groups, each group offering a different type of program.

The five different programs were: an eight-hour program that encouraged delaying sexual activity; an eight-hour program that focused only on safe sex targeting condom use; an eight-hour comprehensive program that combined abstinence discussions with safe sex discussions; a 12-hour comprehensive program similar to the eight-hour program; an eight-hour control program that discussed health issues not related to sex.

The research team then maintained contact with the students for the next two years. They found that nearly 33 percent of those students who went through the specially tailored abstinence-only program had sex compared to 52 percent of those who participated in the safe-sex-only program. From the comprehensive programs 42 percent had intercourse. Of those in the control group, 47 percent had intercourse.

The researchers also found that the abstinence program, which didn’t disparage the use of condoms, seemed to have no negative effect on the students’ condom use.

Dr. John B. Jemmott III, study head and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told the Washington Post: “I think we’ve written off abstinence-only education without looking closely at the nature of the evidence. Our study shows this could be one approach that could be used.”

“The take-home message is that we need a variety of interventions to address an epidemic like HIV, sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy,” he added.

Under U.S. President Barack Obama’s new funding policy for pregnancy prevention programs, an abstinence-only program like the one in the study could compete for funds.

“No one study determines funding decisions, but the findings from the research paper suggest that this kind of project could be competitive for grants if there’s promise that it achieves the goal of teen pregnancy prevention,” said Nicholas Papas, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services.

In an editorial that accompanied the results, the researchers cautioned that this one study should not regulate government policy, suggesting that similar studies may need to be conducted before solid conclusions could be drawn.