Healthy futures program and adolescent sexual behaviors in 3 Massachusetts cities: A randomized controlled trial

T.V. Calise, W. Chow, K.F. Dore, M.J. O'Brien, E.R. Heitz and R.R. Millock

American Journal of Public Health, 2016, vol. 106, S103-S109

Abstract: Objectives. We evaluated the impact of the 3-year Healthy Futures program on reducing sexual behaviors among middle school students. Methods. Fifteen public middle schools in Haverhill, Lowell, and Lynn, Massachusetts, participated in this longitudinal school-cluster randomized controlled trial (2011-2015), which included 1344 boys and girls. We collected student survey data at baseline, immediately after each Nu-CULTURE curriculum (classroom component of Healthy Futures) in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, and at a 1-year follow-up in the ninth grade (cohort 1 students only). Results. Healthy Futures did not reduce the overall prevalence of eighth-grade students who reported ever having vaginal sex. In the eighth-grade follow-up, fewer girls in the treatment group than in the control group reported ever having vaginal sex (P =.04), and fewer Hispanic treatment students than Hispanic control students reported ever having vaginal sex (P =.002). Conclusions. There was some evidence of delaying sexual initiation by the end of Nu-CULTURE, for girls and Hispanics, but not for boys. Future research should focus on improving implementation of the supplemental components intended to foster interpersonal and environmental protective factors associated with sustained delays in sexual activity.

Keywords: adolescent; adolescent sexual behavior; child; city; control group; controlled clinical trial; controlled study; curriculum; female; follow up; girl; Hispanic; human; major clinical study; male; Massachusetts; middle school student; prevalence; randomized controlled trial (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2016.303389_7

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303389

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