title: Abstinence-only education: how we got here and where we're going.
abstract: This paper examines the history of abstinence education in the United States and the empirical evidence of its effectiveness in preventing teenage pregnancy. It concludes that abstinence education has not yet been proven effective, and therefore recommends that federal policy and funding should be directed towards teen pregnancy prevention programs that have demonstrated success.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community and Family Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa 33612-3805, USA. kperrin@hsc.usf.edu
authors.forename: Karen Kay
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Perrin
authors.forename: Sharon Bernecki
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: DeJoy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000517:prevention & control; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012736:Sex Education / Q000379:methods*; D012746:Sexual Abstinence; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology