Evaluation Of The

Teen-Aid Abstinence-Education Program

“I’ve Got Connections II”

2005-2006

Prepared For Teen-Aid, Inc.

723 E. Jackson Avenue, Spokane, WA 99207

Prepared by

Raja S. Tanas, Ph.D.

Department of Sociology

Whitworth College

Spokane, WA  99251-1105

e-mail:  rtanas@whitworth.edu

(August 2006)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 I’ve Got Connections I & II (IGC I & II) is an abstinence-education program developed by Teen-Aid of Spokane, Washington. The program is designed to affirm, maintain and introduce teens to information and skill training therefore, moving their attitudes, values, and behavioral intentions toward abstinence until marriage. The effectiveness of the program was evaluated annually over the past three years. This is the fourth-year evaluation and is based on data gathered from 4,555 students during the school year 2005-2006. The program and its annual evaluations were sponsored by a federal grant under a HHS Administration for Children and Families/Community Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) formerly funded under Maternal and Child Bureau/Special Projects with Regional and National Significance (SPRANS).

 The I’ve Got Connections program embraced two abstinence-education curricula that Teen-Aid has developed with the objective of helping teens abstain from all forms of sexual activity until marriage. The two curricula are Me, My World, My Future and the Sexuality, Commitment and Family. They covered age-appropriate and medically referenced material specifically tailored for junior high and senior high school students, respectively.

 The method of research was the one-group pretest-posttest experimental design. Frequency and contingency tables in addition to t-test for dependent and independent samples were the primary statistical techniques employed for analysis.

 Data for this evaluation were obtained online via the use of a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire included ninety-five items that covered federal performance measures and abstinence education content consistent with the welfare reform requirements and funding.

 The pretest data were used to generate profiles of the general sample and of the non-virgin students. The general sample included a slight majority of females and more than two in three were whites. Average age of students was 14 years and 9 months. More than two in five students belonged to households where the parents’ level of education was a high-school degree or less and where religion has played an important role in their lives. This is the second year in a row that parents were the most important source for birth control. One in eight students have had sexual intercourse at least once, a proportion that is below the national averages for comparable populations. Teachers were made aware of the students’ risk factors following the pre test so that special emphasis could be added to that portion of the curriculum.

 For a fourth year in a row (from IGC I and II), the research results indicated strong evidence that the objectives of the Teen-Aid program were fulfilled satisfactorily. Indeed, the program moved students toward a greater degree of commitment to abstinence until marriage. It impacted at least thirty-five variables that measured attitudes, values, knowledge, and future behavioral intentions relative to teen sex. The following is a list of the impacted variables.

 After taking the Teen-Aid program, the students were more likely to agree that:

• Having sex before marriage was against their religious and/or personal beliefs

• It was not important to them to be accepted by others their age

• Their life was not determined by things that were beyond their control

• Avoiding the use of drugs and alcohol could help them save sex for marriage

• They are now encouraged by their friends to be sexually abstinent

• Their friends disapproved of young people their age having sexual intercourse

• Now, they were better prepared to resist and control sexual urges

• During the next year, it was not likely that someone would try to have sex with them

• Teen sex would make it harder for them to have a good marriage and family life

• Abstaining from sexual activity until marriage would help them accomplish their goals in life

• They planned to wait until marriage to have sex

• Having sex as a young person could mess up their future

• Having a child while unmarried would affect their life

• Now, they could go to their parents with questions about relationships and sex

• Now, they have a lot of respect for their parents’ ideas and opinions about sex

• Their parents/guardian would want them to practice sexual abstinence until marriage

• That a baby became a human life at conception

• Sexual activity has harmful emotional effects

• Abstinence was the only sure way to prevent a pregnancy

• Condoms did not provide protection from emotional and social consequences of sexual activity

• No matter what their friends said or did, they were responsible for their actions

• They understood that abstinence was their voluntary choosing not to engage in sexual activity until marriage

• Sexually transmitted diseases could cause infertility and could cause cancer

• The only certain way for teens to avoid unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases was to wait until they were married before having sex

• Abstinence was the only 100 percent effective protection from the possible physical, emotional, mental and social consequences of sexual activity before marriage

• Condoms would not make sex safe

• Abstinence from all types of sexual activity was the best way to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS

• It was important for sexually active teens to make a new decision and stop having sex

• It was normal for them to have strong feelings and thoughts about sex, but was not OK for them to have sex

• They believed that there were physical health advantages in waiting until marriage for sexual activity

• Drugs and alcohol use had effect on their ability to abstain from sex

• Even if there was no pregnancy, having sex could cause a lot of problems for unmarried teenagers

• Sex among unmarried teens was wrong

• A person who has been sexually active was able to choose abstinence for the future

• Although the non-virgin students have had sexual intercourse, they were now choosing to be sexually abstinent

 The sample was divided into sub-groups to examine the degree to which the program was effective for junior and senior high, male and female, white and non-white, virgin and non-virgin students. The results showed that the program had a varying degree of impact on the sub-groups, a finding that was expected in a research project of this nature. The greatest degree of impact of the program was on female students followed by senior high, whites, non-virgin, virgin, non-whites, junior high, and males.

 No gender difference in virginity status was found suggesting a single standard governing sexual behavior among teens. While alcohol consumption, drug use, and cigarette smoking were strong correlates of non-virginity status, alcohol consumption was by far the best correlate for both male and female students.

 The data also showed teacher variability in the degree to which the program was effective. Not all teachers were equally effective in teaching the subject matter. The results highlighted the need for continued teacher training especially for educators who taught the program for the first time.