Interventions to promote continued abstinence and the avoidance of risky sexual behaviors are far more likely to be successful than attempts to alter established patterns of high-risk sexual activity. The proposed project is a randomized, controlled trial of a comprehensive 4-year elementary school prevention initiative starting in 3rd grade whose aim is to promote continued abstinence through 7th grade. The intervention, grounded in social cognitive, influence, and development theories, will be embedded within a pre-existing comprehensive elementary school social development program.
The aim of the intervention is to teach children to use problem-solving and communication skills to negotiate and prevent high-risk sexual behavior. The intervention will consist of both a Universal component delivered to all students in the intervention group (N=900) and a Targeted component delivered to an identified at-risk sub-group (N=350). The intervention group will receive: 1) an evidence-based social skills curriculum (PATHS), 2) abstinence-promotion and sex-risk prevention lessons, 3) in-service training for teachers, and 4) in-classroom facilitation and co-teaching by a Social Development Facilitator. In addition, the at-risk intervention sub-group will also receive: 1) weekly small-group booster sessions to reinforce the PATHS curriculum skills, 2) monthly skill-building and support sessions for parents, and 3) case-management by a Social Worker to provide additional support and referral services. A cohort (N=1800) of all 3rd grade regular education and bilingual students in New Haven Public Schools during the 2004-5 academic year will be enrolled and followed for 5 years through 7th grade. It is hypothesized that by the end of 7th grade, more students in the intervention group than in the control group will remain abstinent; for those students who have initiated sexual activity, it is hypothesized that more intervention students will use condoms. Our team has recently completed a randomized, controlled trial of a 5th-7th grade AIDS prevention initiative that led to a significant increase in sustained abstinence and decreased sex-risk behaviors at one year follow-up. The proposed study aims to build upon this success and to demonstrate the efficacy and feasibility of a comprehensive elementary school abstinence promotion and risk prevention initiative to deter the early onset of risky sexual behavior. If successful, this would represent the first such evidence-based initiative focused on the middle childhood age spectrum. ? ?
| Schonfeld, David J; Adams, Ryan E; Fredstrom, Bridget K et al. (2015) Cluster-randomized trial demonstrating impact on academic achievement of elementary social-emotional learning. Sch Psychol Q 30:406-420 |
