title: A quasi-experimental evaluation of parents as sexual health educators resulting in delayed sexual initiation and increased access to condoms.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention for parents of first year high school students in the State of Morelos, Mexico, whose aim was to impact adolescents' sexual behavior, knowledge and access to contraception.
  
  
  METHODS
  Quasi-experimental prospective study with eleven control and eleven intervention schools using self-administered questionnaires for parents and adolescents pre- and post-intervention. Parent-child dyads in the control and intervention schools were matched according to parents' propensity score; the average treatment effect (ATE) was estimated for adolescent's outcome variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At follow-up, we found significant differences for adolescents in the intervention schools: 6.8% delayed initiation of sexual intercourse, 14.4% had correct knowledge about emergency contraception (EC), and 164% reported having received condoms from their parents, when comparing with students in control schools.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that parent-focused interventions could be an innovative and effective strategy to promote adolescents sexual health.
authors.affiliation: Division of Reproductive Health, Centre for Research on Population Health, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, México. Ave. Universidad 655, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México.
authors.forename: Lourdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Campero
authors.forename: Dilys
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Erika E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Atienzo
authors.forename: Juan Pablo
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gutierrez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D003075:Coitus; D003142:Communication; D017280:Condoms; D044363:Contraception, Postcoital; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012736:Sex Education; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires