Contact:
Joerg Dreweke
(202) 296-4012 x4235
jdreweke@guttmacher.org
Guttmacher Advisory, February 2010
Review of New Study on a Theory-Based Abstinence Program
Background
An abstinence-only intervention aimed at young, urban African-American adolescents
successfully delayed sexual initiation among participants in the program, according to a
well-designed new study, “Efficacy of a Theory-Based Abstinence-Only Intervention
Over 24 Months,” by John B. Jemmott and colleagues. While the evaluated program is
the first abstinence-only intervention to demonstrate this positive impact in a randomized
control trial, it was not a rigid “abstinence-only-until-marriage” program of the type that,
until this year, received significant federal funding. The evaluation, therefore, adds
important new information to the question of “what works” in sex education, but it
essentially leaves intact the significant body of evidence showing that abstinence-only-
until-marriage programming that met previous federal guidelines is ineffective.
Key findings
In the study, 662 African American students in grades 6 and 7 (with an average age of
12.2 years) were randomly allocated to an eight-hour abstinence-only intervention, an
eight-hour safer sex–only intervention, an eight-hour comprehensive intervention, a 12-
hour comprehensive intervention or an eight-hour intervention promoting general health
(which served as the control group).
• The abstinence-only program was the only intervention in the study to significantly
reduce sexual initiation relative to the control group. Once adolescents who were
sexually experienced at the time of the intervention were excluded, 32.6% of the
abstinence-only participants, compared with 46.6% of those in the control group,
reported that they had ever had sex two years after completing the program.
• Both of the comprehensive programs examined in the study reduced the likelihood of
multiple partners in the previous three months, which is important for the preventi