Study Examines Effects of Social Development Program on Risky Sexual Behavior

The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine recently published a study analyzing a social development program implemented in Seattle's public schools.

The SSDP

The study examined the Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP), which is based on a model that integrates elements of social control, social learning, and differential association theories in the classroom.

The Aim

The aim of the study was to examine the long-term effects of the SSDP on the sexual behavior and associated outcomes of 376 Seattle youth. The study began when the students entered the fifth grade and concluded when the participants reached 21. Participants belonged either to the intervention group, which participated in the SSDP, or to the control group, which did not.

The intervention was designed to reduce risky sexual behavior among young adults by promoting bonding to the school and to the family by enhancing opportunities for students' active involvement both in the classroom and at home.

Demographics

Researchers successfully interviewed 93% of the original 376 participating students at age 21. There were 205 members from the control group and 144 students enrolled in the intervention group. 179 participants (51%) were male and 170 (41%) were female.

Techniques

The SSDP offered parents voluntary training sessions on managing their children's behavior, and suggested ways to help their children succeed academically. The workshops taught parents child behavior management skills, conversation techniques for talking with their children about drugs and sexual health, and tips on how to establish a family policy on risky behavior. These sessions were designed to encourage active involvement in their children's education.

Teachers in the intervention program also received training. For five days at the beginning of each school year, participating teachers learned proactive classroom management, interactive teaching, and cooperative learning skills.

Coupled with the parents' training sessions, the SSDP's teaching methods encouraged students to participate in classroom and domestic activities by enhancing their socialization skills.

Statistics

Sexual Activity

The average age for initiating sexual activity for participants in the intervention group was 16.32, compared to 15.8 for the control group participants 93% of all of the participants were sexually active by age 21.

Condom Use

• Among those individuals who were sexually active by age 21, 67% used condoms the first time they had intercourse.
• 60% of participants in the intervention group, compared to 44% of control students, used condoms during their last sexual experiences.

Sexual Partner Statistics

• 38% of the participants reported having six or more lifetime sexual partners.
• 43% of the control reported having six or more lifetime partners, compared to 32% of the intervention group.

Pregnancy and Birth Statistics

• 41% of the participants reported having "experienced a pregnancy" by age 21; 56% of women in the control group reported ever having been pregnant, compared to 38% of women in the intervention group.
• 40% of women in the control group reported having given birth, compared to 23% of women in the intervention group.

According to the study, the full intervention group reported significantly fewer sexual partners and experienced a marginally reduced risk for initiating intercourse by age 21 when compared to the control group. Women in the intervention group were also less likely to get pregnant than those in the control group. Finally, participants in the intervention group who were not involved in monogamous relationships were more likely to use condoms than their counterparts in the control group.

Given these findings, the researchers conclude that programs such as the SSDP, which promote academic success, social competence, and bonding to the classroom beginning in elementary school, can prevent risky sexual practices and adverse health consequences in students' adult lives.

For more information: Heather S. Lonczack, Ph.D., Robert D. Abbott, Ph.D., Davis Hawkins, Ph.D., Rick Kosterman, Ph.D., Richard F. Catalano, Ph.D., "Effects of the Seattle Social Development Project on Sexual Behavior, Pregnancy, Birth, and Sexually Transmitted Disease Outcomes by Age 21 Years." Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, May 2002, volume 156, no. 5, pp 438-47.