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BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research article

Short-term effects of a rights-based sexuality education curriculum for high-school students: a cluster-randomized trial

Authors: Norman A Constantine, Petra Jerman, Nancy F Berglas, Francisca Angulo-Olaiz, Chih-Ping Chou, Louise A Rohrbach

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2015

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Abstract

Background

An emerging model for sexuality education is the rights-based approach, which unifies discussions of sexuality, gender norms, and sexual rights to promote the healthy sexual development of adolescents. A rigorous evaluation of a rights-based intervention for a broad population of adolescents in the U.S. has not previously been published. This paper evaluates the immediate effects of the Sexuality Education Initiative (SEI) on hypothesized psychosocial determinants of sexual behavior.

Methods

A cluster-randomized trial was conducted with ninth-grade students at 10 high schools in Los Angeles. Classrooms at each school were randomized to receive either a rights-based curriculum or basic sex education (control) curriculum. Surveys were completed by 1,750 students (N = 934 intervention, N = 816 control) at pretest and immediate posttest. Multilevel regression models examined the short-term effects of the intervention on nine psychosocial outcomes, which were hypothesized to be mediators of students’ sexual behaviors.

Results

Compared with students who received the control curriculum, students receiving the rights-based curriculum demonstrated significantly greater knowledge about sexual health and sexual health services, more positive attitudes about sexual relationship rights, greater communication about sex and relationships with parents, and greater self-efficacy to manage risky situations at immediate posttest. There were no significant differences between the two groups for two outcomes, communication with sexual partners and intentions to use condoms.

Conclusions

Participation in the rights-based classroom curriculum resulted in positive, statistically significant effects on seven of nine psychosocial outcomes, relative to a basic sex education curriculum. Longer-term effects on students’ sexual behaviors will be tested in subsequent analyses.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02009046.
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Metadata
Title
Short-term effects of a rights-based sexuality education curriculum for high-school students: a cluster-randomized trial
Authors
Norman A Constantine
Petra Jerman
Nancy F Berglas
Francisca Angulo-Olaiz
Chih-Ping Chou
Louise A Rohrbach
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-1625-5

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