Long-term reductions in sexual initiation and sexual activity among urban middle schoolers in the reach for health service learning program.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the sustained effectiveness of a middle school service learning intervention on reducing sexual initiation and recent sex among urban African-American and Latino adolescents from 7th grade through the 10th grade.


METHODS
During the fall of seventh grade and again in eighth grade, students were randomly assigned by classroom to participate either in community youth service (CYS) or not (controls). Service learning is an educational strategy that couples meaningful service in the community with classroom instruction. Students in both intervention and control conditions received classroom health lessons. Surveys were conducted at seventh grade baseline and at the end of 10th grade, approximately 2 years after intervention. Self-reported sexual behaviors of youths who had participated in CYS were compared with those of controls receiving classroom curriculum alone (n = 195).


RESULTS
CYS participants were significantly less likely than controls to report sexual initiation (2 years CYS, odds ratio [OR] = 0.32; 1 year, OR = 0.49) as well as recent sex (2 years CYS, OR = 0.39; 1 year CYS, OR = 0.48). Among those who were virgins at seventh grade, 80% of males in the curriculum-only condition had initiated sex, compared with 61.5% who received 1 year of CYS, and 50% who received 2 years. Among females, the figures were 65.2%, 48.3%, and 39.6%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
A service learning intervention that combines community involvement with health instruction can have a long-term benefit by reducing sexual risk taking among urban adolescents.
O'Donnell
Lydia
L
Education Development Center, Inc., Newton, Massachusetts 02428, USA. lodonnell@edc.org
Stueve
Ann
A
O'Donnell
Carl
C
Duran
Richard
R
San Doval
Alexi
A
Wilson
Renée F
RF
Haber
Deborah
D
Perry
Elizabeth
E
Pleck
Joseph H
JH
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003479:Curriculum; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009519:New York City; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D012736:Sex Education / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D012746:Sexual Abstinence; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D014505:Urban Population