Family life education for young adolescents: A quasi-experiment

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Abstract
The impact of a family life education program for inner-city, minority elementary-school students was investigated. Two randomly assigned groups of seventh and eighth graders (balanced for gender) completed a self-administered survey, both before and after program implementation. In comparison to the control group, program participants displayed (a) improved knowledge about contraception, reproductive physiology, and adolescent pregnancy outcomes; (b) increased awareness of the existence of specific birth control methods; (c) among seventh graders, more conservative attitudes toward circumstances under which sexual intercourse was viewed as personally acceptable, and among eighth graders, a shift toward more liberal attitudes; and (d) a greater tendency to acknowledge mutual responsibility for contraception. The impact of this intervention and school-based sex education programs in general is discussed within the broader context of the young adolescent's social environment.