Family life education for young adolescents: A quasi-experiment

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.This research was supported by grants from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the Pittway Charitable Trust, and administered by the Ounce of Prevention Fund.Received Ph.D. from Loyola University Chicago.Received Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.Received Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo.