Pre-Sexual Debut Curriculum Timing Strategy
RCTClinical Trial
Delivering sexual health interventions after adolescents have already initiated sexual activity reduces preventive efficacy, as risk behaviors and uninformed habits are already established.
Picture this
Timing health instruction just before adolescents become sexually active is like installing safety equipment on a car before taking it onto the highway. Equipping students with knowledge and condoms right before they face real-world choices ensures protective measures are active before exposure to risk occurs.
What the evidence says
Delivering the curriculum to mostly inexperienced 15-year-olds produced a 0.38 SD increase in overall sexual knowledge, a 0.17 SD increase in positive attitudes, and a 55% increase in condom voucher redemption without increasing self-reported sexual activity rates.
- Who was studied
- N = 4,599 human ninth-grade public school students (average age 15) in Colombia, where 13.5% are sexually active by age 15 and 60% by age 18.
- How
- Classroom-level RCT targeting 14- to 15-year-old adolescents prior to peak sexual debut, measuring knowledge, attitudes, and condom voucher redemption six months post-intervention.
What to do
Schedule comprehensive sexual health interventions for 14- to 15-year-old cohorts immediately preceding local median ages of sexual debut to maximize protective knowledge before behavioral initiation.
From the source
"Profamilia's course targets 14-15 year olds precisely because they are close to becoming sexually active... On the other hand, sexual education should in principle be provided before sexual initiation to convey its full benefits."
Do Information Technologies Improve Teenagers’ Sexual Education? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Colombia