RT Journal
A1 Cavazos-Rehg PA, Krauss MJ, Spitznagel EL, et al
T1 Associations between sexuality education in schools and adolescent birthrates: A state-level longitudinal model
JF Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
JO Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
YR 2012
FD February 1
VO 166
IS 2
SP 134
OP 140
DO 10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.657
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.657
AB Objective 
                  To examine the impact of sexuality education practices on adolescent birthrates while controlling for demographic characteristics and religious/political factors at a state level.Design 
                  Prospective cohort study.Setting 
                  Twenty-four states, from 1997 through 2005.Participants 
                  Girls aged 15 to 17 years.Main Exposure 
                  The state sexuality education practices (ie, sexually transmitted disease prevention, pregnancy prevention, condom efficacy) for 1996 through 2004 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention School Health Profiles Survey.Main Outcome Measures 
                  State birthrates for girls aged 15 to 17 years for 1997 through 2005 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Results 
                  In a longitudinal, unadjusted model, our findings provide evidence that increased sexuality education within school curricula is associated with lower adolescent birthrates (average sexuality education topics β = −0.61; P = .001). However, the effect of sexuality education disappeared when taking into consideration the demographic characteristics, religiosity, and abortion policies of the state (average sexuality education topics β = −0.12; P = .26). States with higher religiosity rankings and greater political conservatism had higher adolescent birthrates.Conclusions 
                  The effects of sexuality education were constrained by state characteristics and do not independently explain the considerable variations in adolescent birthrates found across states. Our findings underscore the strong influence of state characteristics on adolescent birthrates above and beyond sexuality education, which must be considered when evaluating the efficacy of sexuality education programs.