Seattle: Elementary-School Program Reduces Pregnancy, STDs, in Young Adults

An elementary-school program designed to promote social competency and academic success has had some unexpected long-term results: reduced rates of pregnancy, birth and STDs for participants by age 21. The program, developed by University of Washington (UW) researchers, had no sex-education component.

"These results fit with our theory that if children become bonded to school and committed to achieving in school during the elementary grades, they are less likely to risk that bond by engaging in behavior that puts their future success at risk," said J. David Hawkins, the study leader, social work professor and head of the UW Social Development Research Group. A report on the intervention program's impact is published in the May 14 issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine (Vol.156; No.5:438-47).

The program, which involved about 350 kids at 18 Seattle schools in high-crime areas between 1981 and 1986, was part of a larger study of 808 children called the Seattle Social Development Project. By age 21, the pregnancy rate among young women who participated was 38 percent, compared to 56 percent for those in the control group. The birth rate was 23 percent for those in the intervention group, compared to 40 percent of the control group. Increased condom use was particularly high among single black participants, with 50 percent of intervention-group participants reporting that they always used a condom, compared with 12 percent of the control group. Blacks made up 26 percent of the participants. Researchers found the rate of STDs by age 21 among those who had the intervention was just 7 percent, compared to 34 percent for the control group.

"What to me is so positive about this study is that the program doesn't require a whole bunch of specialists -- just helping parents and teachers do a better job at what they're already trying to do," Hawkins said. Children who participated in the full program -- selected in first grade -- were taught impulse control, how to get what they want without aggressive behavior and how to recognize the feelings of others. The National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded the research.

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