Reducing the Risk: Impact Findings from the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Replication Study (Research Brief)

This research brief highlights findings from the evaluation of Reducing the Risk, a sexual health curriculum developed in the early 1990s to help prevent pregnancy and reduce sexually-transmitted infections (STIs) in adolescents. The study examined data from three different replications of Reducing the Risk, pooling the data to examine the overall program impact. Overall, Reducing the Risk did not have an impact on sexual activity, contraceptive use, or pregnancy at either the 12 month or 24 month follow-up. However, exploratory analyses indicated significant site level differences at the 24 month follow-up; one site found positive impacts on sexual behavior, contraceptive use and pregnancy whereas another site found negative impacts on sexual activity. In addition, exploratory analyses indicated negative impacts after 24 months for youth who were Hispanic such that Hispanic youth who received the program were more likely to report engaging in sexual activity and oral sex. There are no clear answers for why one site had a pattern of positive findings and another site and subgroup had a pattern of unfavorable effects. Across all three replications, the program was delivered with fidelity and program attendance was relatively high.