Choosing the Best Research Results

2005 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — Longitudinal/Behavior Outcome Study

An independent evaluation of Choosing the Best WAY, PATH, and LIFE was conducted by Dr. Stan Weed. The study, funded by a Federal SPRANS grant, began in 2002 and concluded in 2004. Using a quasi-experimental design, 7th, 8th and 9th grade students in a south metro Atlanta high school and its feeder middle school received either Choosing the Best (CTB) or the health textbook abstinence education curriculum that complies with state guidelines. The students were administered a 58-item survey prior to the study, immediately after receiving CTB or the health textbook material, and again twelve months later. Three hundred eighteen students were able to be tracked and matched at the pre-test and 12 month follow-up and had usable sexual activity status data. After one year, results among those students receiving CTB (treatment group) vs. those receiving the health textbook (comparison group) indicated a:

• Statistically significant decrease in the initiation of teen sex of 47%;
  
  
• Statistically significant improvements in five of the six intervening attitudinal variables associated with delaying sexual intercourse.

Click here to view full study. (PDF, ~124K)

2010 Research Study/Preliminary Results —
Randomized, Controlled Study Design

An ambitious and rigorous evaluation of the Choosing the Best 9th grade classroom curriculum was initiated in September 2009. The primary objective of the study is to evaluate the efficacy of Choosing the Best in preventing sexual involvement among high school students. The two-year study is considered a “gold standard evaluation” because it uses a randomized, controlled study design. The pre and post-test data collected from the six participating schools show that students who received Choosing the Best demonstrated significant improvement on 1) intentions to be abstinent 2) attitudes about abstinence and 3) refusal skills. To read more about these preliminary results, click here. (PDF, ~125K)