Online Activities for Enhancing Sex Education Curricula: Preliminary Evidence on the Effectiveness of the Abstinence and Contraception Education Storehouse

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to conduct a preliminary evaluation of the Abstinence and Contraception Education Storehouse (ACES), a digital, classroom-based resource designed to supplement existing sex education curricula with highly interactive materials such as video clips, multimedia polls and quizzes, and audiovisual demonstrations. Three hundred thirty-five students aged 14 to 19 were randomly assigned to an ACES-based (treatment) or a standard (control) sex education curriculum. Data were collected at the onset of the intervention and 3 months after the completion of the intervention. Preliminary results were highly encouraging, with ACES participants who were sexually initiated at baseline reporting (at the 3-month follow-up) significant reductions in the number of times they had sex in the past 4 weeks. Both sexually initiated and non–sexually initiated youth who experienced the ACES curriculum also demonstrated greater intent to abstain from the sex during the follow-up period than did those in the control group.

KEYWORDS:

• HIV/AIDS prevention
• interactive curriculum
• multimedia activities
• adolescent sex education

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Grant R44 HD055167-02.

Notes

The bolded values denote significant findings at the p < .05 level.

The positive outcomes include: postponing sexual intercourse, decreasing the frequency of sexual intercourse and number of sexual partners, increasing contraceptive use at first intercourse and at most recent intercourse, increasing consistent contraceptive use among the sexually active at every intercourse, preventing pregnancy and increasing use of effective STD/HIV/AIDS-prophylactic method at first and most recent intercourse.

There was no overlap in participants from the Gilroy Unified School District sample (one high school) and the Planned Parenthood sample.

The California Department of Public Health 2010 County Health Status Profiles indicate that the age specific birth rate to adolescents age 15 to 19 in Santa Clara County is 25.5 per 1,000 female population, with Latina girls ages 15 to 17 giving birth at a rate of 35 per 1,000, and 102 per 1,000 for ages 18 to 19. In addition, data show that adolescent girls in this same age range have the highest reported number of Chlamydia and gonorrhea cases, compared with other age groups.

Sixty percent of respondents of Hispanic/Latino origin listed “other” as the category that best describes their racial background.