Online Activities for Enhancing Sex Education Curricula: Preliminary Evidence on the Effectiveness of the Abstinence and Contraception Education Storehouse
Raghupathy, S.; Klein, C.; Card, J.
Journal of Hiv/Aids and Social Services 12(2): 160-171
2013
ISSN/ISBN: 1538-1501 PMID: 24078799 DOI: 10.1080/15381501.2013.790749Document Number: 576476
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. 335 students ages 14-19 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 four 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 those in the control group.