The Effects of Sex Education on Adolescent Behavior

Author(s): Deborah Anne Dawson

Source: Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Jul. - Aug., 1986), pp. 162-170
Published by: Guttmacher Institute
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2135325 .
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ImpactofSex Educationon Sex-RelatedBehavior

7. F. F. Furstenberg,Jr.,K. A. Moore and J. L. Peter- 11. D. Kirby,1984,op. cit. (see reference 5). 17. R. Roemerand J. M. Paxman,"Sex EducationLaws
son, "Sex Educationand Sexual ExperienceAmongAdo- and Policies," Studies in FamilyPlanning,10:219,1985;
lescents,"AmericanJournalof Public Health, 75:1131, 12. M. T. Orr, "Sex Educationand ContraceptiveEdu- H. Rodman, S. H. Lewis and S. B. Griffith, The Sexual
1985. cation in U.S. Public High Schools," FamilyPlanning Rightsof Adolescents:Competence,Vulnerability, and
Perspectives,14:304,1982. ParentalControl,ColumbiaUniversity Press,New York,
8. M. Zelnik and Y. J. Kim, 1982, op. cit. (see refer-
1984; M. L. Finkeland D. J. Finkel,"PublicPolicyand
ence 2). 13. W. H. Sewell and V. P. Shah, "Parents'Education AdolescentSextialBehaviorin the UnitedStates,"Social
and Children's Educational Aspirationsand Achieve-
9. Family GrowthSurveyBranch,NationalCenter for ments,"AmericanSociologicalReview,33:191, 1968. Biology, 30:140, 1983; W. Marsiglio,"Confronting the
Health Statistics, "Abortion Reporting in the 1982 Teenage PregnancyIssue: Social Marketingas an Inter-
NSFG," Hyattsville,Md., 1985; and M. Zelnik,J. F. 14. M. Guggenheimand A. Sussman, The Rightsof disciplinaryApproach,"Hunan Relations,38:983, 1985;
Kantnerand K. Ford, Sex and PregnancyinAdolescence, YoungPeople, Bantam,New York,1985. and P. Scales, "The New Oppositionto Sex Education:A
Sage, BeverlyHills, 1981,Table B-4, p. 22. Powerfutl Threat to a Democratic Society,"Journalof
15. M. T. Orr, 1982,op. cit. (see reference12). School Health,51:300, 1981.
10. J. R. Kahnand S. L. Hofferth, "NationalEstimatesof
Teenage Sexual Activity:EvaluatingtheComparability of 16. L. S. Zabin, J. F. Kantnerand M. Zelnik,"The Risk 18. P. Scales, "The ChangingContextofSexualityEdut-
Three NationalSurveys,"1985;and M. Zelnik,J.Kantner of AdolescentPregnancyin the First Monthsof Inter- cation: Paradigmsand Challenges for AlternativeFu-
and K. Ford, 1981,op. cit. (see reference9). course,"FamilyPlanningPerspectives,11:215,1979. tutres,"
Famnily Relations,35:265, 1986.

The EffectsofSex Education

On AdolescentBehavior

By Deborah AnneDawson

Summary received pregnancyand contraceptiveedu- who take sex educationcoursesreportmore

Byage 18,accordingtothe1982 National cation before firstcoitus are significantlytolerantattitudestowardthesexualbehavior
SurveyofFamilyGrowth, 68 percentof15- more likelyto have used a methodat first ofothersbut littlechangein the values that
19-year-old womenhave receivedformal intercourse. governtheirown personalbehavior.2Rela-
instructionabout pregnancyand contra- Nearlyone-thirdof premaritally sexually tivelyfewstudies,however,have attempted
ceptivemethods,16 percenthave had in- active adolescents have had at least one to measurethe behavioraleffectsofsex edu-
structionaboutpregnancy only,andanoth- premaritalpregnancy.The NSFG data re- cation programs.Most such attemptshave
er 16 percenthavereceivedneither typeof veal no significant
relationshipbetweenex- revealedlittleor no effect ofsexeducationon
education.The age at whichformal con- posure to sex educationand the riskofpre- levels of sexual activity.3Althoughseveral
traceptiveeducationis firstprovidedhas maritalpregnancy among sexually active investigations have demonstrateda positive
been declining;among 15-year-olds, for teenagers. relationshipbetweensex educationand vari-
example,47 percenthave had instruction ous measures of contraceptiveuse,4 others
by their15thbirthday, comparedwith33 Introduction have found no association.5For the most
percentof 17-year-olds and 26 percentol Each year, U.S. teenagersbear over halfa part,programsthatare based infamilyplan-
19-year-olds. millionchildren,the vast majorityof them ning clinics or include a clinic component
Forty-sixpercentof adolescentwomen reportedlyunplanned. Induced abortions have been the most successfulin affecting
have had premarital intercourse.
Exposure terminatean almostequal numberofadoles- contraceptivepractice; and in a few in-
toformal sex educationappearstohaveno cent pregnancies.It is widelybelieved that stances, clinic-based programsalso have
consistenteffecton thesubsequentproba- providingteenagerswithinformation about played a significant part in reducingpreg-
thata teenagerwillbeginto have in- pregnancyand birthcontrolis crucialifthe nancy.6One studyhas providedsome evi-
bility
tercourse.Sex educationdoes influenceincidence of adolescentpregnancyis to be dence that teenage women who have re-
contraceptiveknowledgeand behavior, reduced, and thatformalsex educationpro-
however.Sexuallyactiveteenagerswhc gramsare an appropriateand important vehi- Deborah Anne Dawson is a surveyresearchconsultant.
have had formal instruction
reportknowing cle forprovidingthatinformation. This articleis based on her doctoraldissertation
at The
howto use moremethodsthando adoles- A numberof studieshave shownthatsex JohnsHopkinsUniversity,"The EffectsofSex Education
centswhohavehadno instruction. Thefor- education programs increase participants' on AdolescentIntercourse,Contraceptionand Pregnancy
in the United States," Mar. 1986. The authoracknowl-
mergroupis also significantly
morelikelytc knowledge of human reproductionand edges thefinancialassistanceoftheDepartmentofPopu-
havepracticed contraceptionatsometime. methodsofcontraception1 and altersomeof lation Dynamics at JohnsHopkins and the suggestions
And among ever-users,those who have their attitudesas well. Typically,students providedbyYoungKimand MelvinZelnik.

162 FamilyPlanningPerspectives

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ceived any typeof sex educationare less
likelyto havebeenpregnant thanarethose Table 1. Percentageof womenaged 15-19 who have discussed selected topics withtheir
whohavereceived nosucheducation.7 Over- parentsbeforeage 18, and percentagewho have receivedformalinstruction about those
all, however,the existing data do notyet topics beforeage 18,byraceand current age
constitute consistent,compelling evidence Topic Total Race Current
age
thatsexeducation programs areeffective in White/ Black 15 16 17 18 19
increasingteenagecontraceptive useandre- other
ducingadolescent pregnancy. Discussed topic (N= (N= (N= (N= (N= (N= (N= (N=
In thisarticle,we examinetheeffects of withparents 1,888) 1,307) 581) 269) 300) 370) 480) 469)
formal sexeducation-specifically, education Menstrual cycle 83.8 84.6 78.8 83.3 88.4 86.2 80.3 82.0
aboutpregnancy andbirthcontrol-on teen- Howpregnancy occurs 67.3 68.2 62.4 66.1 70.7 68.9 66.3 65.1
agers' initiationof premarital intercourse,Venerealdisease 39.8 39.0 44.5 39.7 37.3 43.3 39.1 39.1
knowledge anduseofcontraceptive methods Methodsofbirth control 53.0 51.5 61.6 52.1 51.5 54.2 54.6 51.8
and experience withpremarital pregnancy.
The datawe use arefrom the1982National Receivedformalinstruction (N= (N= (N= (N= (N= (N= (N= (N=
abouttopic 1,886) 1,306) 580) 269) 299) 370) 479) 469)
SurveyofFamilyGrowth (NSFG),forwhich
Menstrualcycle 88.1 89.3 80.9 87.1 88.4 88.1 87.1 89.5
interviewswereconducted witha multistage
Howpregnancy occurs 81.0 80.6 83.1 76.1 81.0 80.8 80.8 84.9
areaprobabilitysampleofwomenaged15-44
Venerealdisease 75.4 74.9 78.4 67.6 73.0 77.9 75.9 79.9
whowerepartofthenoninstitutionalized pop-
Methodsofbirthcontrol 68.2 67.4 73.0 57.6 65.7 68.6 73.5 71.5
ulationof the coterminous UnitedStates.
Womenliving ingroupquarters (e.g.,college
dormitories)wereincludedin a supplemen-parents about the process of conception, percent,onlyin familyplanningclinics;and
tarysample.To ensureadequatenumbers for whereasfour-fifths say theyhave had formal anothersevenpercent,onlyinothersettings
analysis,
blackwomenandwomen aged15-19 instruction in thesubject.Justoverhalfhave (forexample,churchschoolsand community
wereoversampled. discussed contraceptionat home, but two- centers). Two percent report both high
Besides askingabout firstintercourse,thirdshave been taughtabout it elsewhere. school and familyplanningclinicsas sources
contraceptive use, reproductive experienceThe largestdifference in sourceofsexeduca- ofinstruction. Blackteenagersare morethan
anddemographic andsocioeconomic charac- tionappears withrespectto the topicofve- twiceas likelyas otheradolescentsto obtain
teristics,
theNSFG alsoincluded a seriesof nereal disease: Two-fifths have discussedit formaleducation throughclinics only (15
questionscovering fourareasofsexeduca- withtheirparents,whilethree-quarters have percent vs. six percent)and throughboth
tion:the menstrual cycle,howpregnancylearnedabout itinformalprograms. clinicsand highschool(fivepercentvs. two
occurs,venerealdisease and methodsof Blackteenagersare morelikelythanother percent);theyare slightly less likelytoreport
birthcontrol.The respondents wereasked adolescentsto have learnedaboutbirthcon- all othersources.
whether, beforetheyreachedage 18,they troland venerealdisease, bothat homeand For teenage women who receive formal
hadevertalkedwiththeirparents aboutany throughformalprograms;but theyare less instructionabout birthcontrol,the age at
ofthefourtopics,andwhether, byage 18, likelyto haveobtainedinformation aboutthe whichthe instruction is firstprovidedranges
theyhadeverreceivedformal instruction in menstrualcyclefromeithersource,and less fromeightto 17; the mean age is 14.3. Ta-
thosetopicseitherinschoolorthrough other likelyto have discussedpregnancywiththeir ble 2 (page 164),whichshowsthecumulative
sourcesthatofferorganizedprograms (for parents. proportionsofteenagerswho receiveformal
example,community centersand family The proportions ofteenagewomenreport- contraceptiveeducationby successiveages,
planning clinics).Womenwhoreported re- ing thattheyreceivedthe fourtypesof sex demonstratesthattheage atwhichsuchedu-
ceivingformal education aboutcontraceptiveeducationat home showverylittlevariation cation is obtained has been declining.For
methodswereaskedtheage at whichthey by age, suggestingthat if such discussions example,theproportionreporting formalin-
had firstreceivedthatinstruction; no such occur at all, theyprobablyoccurby age 15. structionbytheir15thbirthdayis 47 percent
questionwas askedaboutthe otherthree The age patternsforformalinstruction inthe among 15-year-olds, comparedwith33 per-
topics,however. menstrualcycleand pregnancyrevealsimilar cent among 17-year-oldsand 26 percent
The analysesthatfollow arebasedon the regularity;the patternsforvenerealdisease among19-year-olds.
subsampleof 1,888womenwhowereaged and contraception,however, show some- By mostages, black teenagersare some-
15-19at thetimeofinterview. Descriptivewhat more variation,especially between what more likely than others to have re-
datapresented inthetablesareweighted to ages 15 and 17. These data suggestthatfor- ceived formalinstruction aboutbirthcontrol.
representnationalpopulationestimates,mal instructionin all fourtopics usuallyis (The figureof23 percentbyage 13 forwhite
whilemultivariate dataandtestsofstatisticalofferedat or beforeage 15, but thatinstruc- and other 15-year-oldsshould be viewed
significanceare basedon unweighted num- tion about venereal disease and contracep- with considerable caution, since it repre-
bers.The unweighted numbers ofcasesare tionmaybe somewhatmoredispersedacross sents an improbablylargeincreaseoverthe
showninalltables. severalgrades. seven percentfigureshownforwomenaged
School classes are the majorsourceoffor- 16.) The racial differential
appears to have
PrevalenceofSex Education mal contraceptiveinstruction(not shown). narrowedovertime:Amongwomenaged 19,
As Table 1 shows,substantial of Of 15-19-year-olds
proportions who reportsuch instruc- 84 percentof blackscomparedwith69 per-
U.S. teenagewomensaytheyhavediscussed tion,58 percentobtainitonlyin highschool cent of whitesand othersreportformalin-
sex-relatedtopics with their parents,and (definedin the NSFG as grades9-12) and six structionby age 18; among 17-year-olds,in
even largerproportionsreportthattheyhave percentobtainitinelementary schoolas well contrast,the proportionswho have everhad
received instruction
in formalsettings.Two- (grades 1-8). Nineteen percentreceive in- such instructionare 72 percentand 67 per-
thirds,forexample,reporttalkingwiththeir structiononly in elementaryschool; seven cent,respectively.

Volume 18, Number4, July/August

1986 163

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EffectsofSex Educationon AdolescentBehavior

also presents,forwomen aged 15-19, the

Table 2. Cumulative percentage ofwomen aged 15-19 who have received formalcontraceptive cumulativelife-tableprobabilitiesof initiat-
instructionby each successive birthday,according to race and currentage ing premarital intercourseby successive
Race and Birthday N birthdays;thesefiguresare derivedfromthe
currentage 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th dates (monthand year) of firstintercourse
reportedby NSFG respondents.Probabili-
Total
ties range fromfive percent by the 14th
15 21.3 31.3 47.0 56.7* na na 265
16 7.5 22.3 40.5 59.5 65.1* na 293
birthdayto 71 percentby the20thbirthday.
17 8.9 17.8 32.9 54.6 65.1 360
The life-tablemedianage at firstintercourse
68.0*
is 17.8-16.7 forblackteenagersand 18.0for
18 7.3 14.5 25.0 42.3 61.5 72.6 469
19 8.5 17.2 26.3 44.4 60.1 71.0 462
whites and otheradolescents(withnoadjust-
ment forcharacteristics thatmightaccount
White/other forthe racialdifferential).
15 22.5 31.2 45.7 56.0* na na 173
We mustcaution,however,thatthereis
16 6.8 21.6 40.1 58.8 64.8* na 183 no way to corroboratethese survey-based
17 8.7 18.0 31.2 54.5 63.9 67.0* 236
estimatesofthe prevalenceofadolescentin-
18 7.4 14.5 24.5 42.3 61.5 72.2 347
tercourse.Althoughthe NSFG resultsare
19 8.6 16.8 26.2 44.0 58.6 68.8 337
comparable,afteradjustmentforsampledif-
Black ferences,to those obtained by Zelnik and
15 14.1 32.3 54.7 60.3* na na 92 Kantnerin their1979 nationalsurveyof 15-
16 10.7 25.5 42.6 63.2 66.9* na 110 19-year-olds,8 thepossibilityofunderreport-
17 9.7 16.7 40.6 54.8 70.3 72.2* 124 ingormisreporting inbothsurveyscannotbe
18 7.2 14.7 29.0 43.0 62.1 75.7 122 ruled out. If no associationexistsbetween
19 7.9 20.1 27.1 46.9 69.2 84.1 125 the likelihoodof reportingintercourseand
*Percentage shown necessarily underestimatesthe cumulativeproportion, since at the timeof interview,
notall exposure to formalsex education,thenun-
women had completedtheirrespectiveyearofage. Forexample,amongwomenaged 15 at interview, some ofthose derreporting ofsexualactivityshouldnotse-
wouldstillhave had timetodo so beforeturning
who had notyetreceived instruction 16.
riouslybias anyevaluationoftheeffects ofsex
Note: na= notapplicable.
educationon premaritalintercourse. On the
other hand, if sex educationprogramsen-
For the analysesthatfollow,we used the sex-relatedtopics with their childrenare courage teenagersto become morecomfort-
data on prevalence to classifywomen into morelikelytoencourageorpermittheirchil- able with theirown sexuality,and thereby
three categoriesof exposure to formalsex drento obtainformalsex education. make themmorelikelyto reportpremarital
education: teenagerswho received neither intercourse,the resultingdifferential in re-
pregnancynor contraceptiveeducationbe- FirstPremarital Coitus portingmayartificially produce(orstrength-
foreage 18 (16 percentofwomenaged 15- Forty-sixpercentofwomenaged 15-19 say en) a positiveassociationbetweensexeduca-
19), those who received instructiononly they have had premaritalintercourse-59 tionand the initiation ofintercourse.
about pregnancy(another16 percent)and percent of blacks and 44 percentof other To evaluate the relationshipbetweensex
those who had instruction about bothpreg- women (see Table 3). Amongever-married educationand firstcoitus,we mustfirstde-
nancy and contraception(68 percent).This teenagers,89 percentreportinitiating inter- terminethesequence ofthesetwoevents,in
last categoryincludes a small numberof coursepriorto marriage(notshown).Table 3 order to avoid attributing a causal effectto
womenwhoreportedformaleducationabout education that occurs afterthe event it is
contraceptivemethodsbut no such educa- assumed to have influenced.The NSFG
tionabouthowpregnancyoccurs. Table 3. Amongwomenaged 15-19,percent- asked respondentsto specifythe monthand
Cross-tabulation of these threemeasures age who have never had premaritalinter- yearin whichtheyhad firsthad intercourse,
cumulative probabilityof having
with the proportionsdiscussingpregnancy course, but asked themto stateonlytheage at which
initiatedpremarital intercoursebyeach suc-
and contraception withtheirparentsby age cessive birthday, had firstreceivedformalcontraceptive
and medianage at firstpre- they
18 indicatesthatthe likelihoodof such dis- maritalintercourse, accordingto race instruction (therewere no questionson age
cussion is relatedto the likelihoodofformal at receipt of other typesof sex education).
Measure Total White/ Black
instruction(data not shown).Thus, 58 per- other
Thus, forwomen who reportedfirstinter-
cent of teenage womenwho receiveno for- course and firstcontraceptiveeducationat
mal instruction aboutpregnancyand contra- % having (N=1,888) (N=1,307) (N=581) the same age, the chronological orderofthe
had coitus 46.2 44.0 58.8
ception talk with theirparentsabout how twoeventscould notbe determined.Within
pregnancyoccurs,comparedwith70 percent Cum. % proba- the groupwho ever receivedformalinstruc-
bility
byeach
of those who receive both pregnancyand birthday* (N= 1,885) (N= 1,304) (N=581) tionaboutbirthcontrol,10 percentreceived
contraceptiveinstruction. Similarly, 43 per- 14th 5.0 4.3 9.3 it at the same age as firstcoitus,80 percent
cent ofadolescentswho receiveneithertype 15th 11.8 10.4 19.9 received it at a youngerage (thissubgroup
offormalinstruction, but 58 percentofthose 16th 23.2 20.9 36.0 includes those who had never had inter-
17th 38.1 35.2 54.9
who receive both types,discusscontracep- 18th 52.7 49.8 69.3
course) and 10 percentreceivedit at a later
tionwiththeirparentsbeforetheyturn18. 19th 64.4 62.2 77.5 age. A crude estimateofthetotalproportion
These data suggest either that formalsex 20th 70.7 68.5 84.1 of NSFG respondentswho receivedformal
education programspromote parent-child Median age* 17.8 18.0 16.7 contraceptiveinstruction beforefirstcoitus
communicationabout the subjectscovered can be derivedbymultiplying theproportion
*Based on life-tableanalysis.
by theprograms,or thatparentswhodiscuss who ever receivedsuch instruction (68 per-

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cent, as shownin Table 1) by theproportion ses, we assume thatwhen both pregnancy themreceivetheeducation eitherbefore or
ofwomenwithcontraceptive educationwho and contraceptiveinstruction are reported, after firstintercourseareincorporated into
received that education beforefirstinter- the twooccurat thesame age. all remaining analysesin whichcontracep-
course. The resultof thiscomputationis 55 We make two alternativeassumptions tive educationis timedin relation to first
percentwhen the lattersubgroupexcludes about the timingofcontraceptive education intercourse.)
womenwhoobtainedinstruction at thesame in the case ofwomenwho reportcontracep- As Table 4 illustrates, theproportions of
age as theirage at firstcoitus,and 61 percent tiveinstruction duringtheone-yearobserva- adolescentwomenwho initiate premarital
when the subgroupincludes such women. tion period initiatedby each birthday.The intercourse at eachage do notdiffer greatly
However, these two estimatesare based on firstassumptionis thatthesewomenreceive withexposureto sex education. At age 17
incompletedata, since the youngeradoles- the instruction at theend ofthatyearofage, underthesecondassumption, teenagers who
cents in the NSFG sample who had notre- and afterfirstintercourse,ifintercourse oc- have previously receivedinstruction about
ceived formalcontraceptive educationbythe curs;thewomenare thusincludedwiththose contraception and pregnancy are almost
time of interviewwould have had the op- classifiedas receivingneitherpregnancynor twiceas likelyto begincoitusas thosewho
portunityto obtain it while still in their contraceptiveeducation by the birthday havehad neither typeofinstruction; butat
teens. Since all ofthe respondentsreporting specified. The second assumptionis that virtually allotherages(regardless ofassump-
formalcontraceptiveeducationobtained it these womenreceiveinstruction at thestart tion),theproportions initiating intercourse
beforeage 18, theexperienceofwomenaged of the year of age, and beforefirstinter- are slightly loweramongwomenwhohave
18-19 mayprovidea morereliablemeasure course,ifintercourse occurs;inthiscase, the hadcontraceptive andpregnancy education.
oftheprobability ofreceivinginstruction be- women are includedwiththoseclassifiedas Thispattern appearsamongteenagers ofall
forefirstcoitus. The data forthissubgroup receivingbothpregnancyand contraceptive racesandamongnonblack teenagers. In the
suggestthat57-65 percentof all teenagers educationby the birthdayspecified.(These caseofblacks,priorcontraceptive education
receive formalcontraceptiveeducationbe- two assumptionsforwomenwho experience is associated witha higherincidence offirst
foretheyfirsthave intercourse. contraceptiveeducationand firstintercourse coitusatage 14underbothassumptions, but
Aside fromthe problem of determining at the same yearofage-namely, thatall of theoppositeis trueat ages 15-18.Overall,
chronology,one otherissue complicatesthe
analysisofsex educationand initiation ofco-
itus.Whenwomenarecategorizedaccording Table 4. Amongwomenaged 15-19whohave neverhad premarital intercourse priorto each
to whethertheyhave had sex educationbe- successive birthday, percentagewhoinitiate intercourse duringtheyearfollowing thatbirth-
fore firstintercourse,thosewho obtainthat day,accordingto receiptofformalinstruction aboutpregnancy and contraception priortothe
birthday, byrace
educationafterfirstintercourse are grouped
withthose who neverobtainit. In a simple Race and Typeofinstruction received byeachbirthday
cross-sectional analysis,thisprocesscreatesa birthday Assumption 1 Assumption 2*
spurious negativerelationshipbetween re-
Neither Pregnancy Pregnancy Neither Pregnancy Pregnancy
ceipt ofsex educationand probability offirst pregnancy onlyt andcontra- pregnancy onlyt andcontra-
coitus, because women who have ever had norcontra- ceptivet norcontra- ceptivet
intercoursenecessarilyare moreheavilyrep- ceptive ceptive
resentedamongthosewhohave notreceived % N % N % N % N % N % N
sex education beforefirstintercoursethan
Total
theyare amongthosewho have receivedit. 14th 7.3 1,126 7.2 298 6.0 318 7.1 891 7.2 298 6.7 553
Hence, it is necessaryto analyze the data 15th 12.1 821 14.8 277 11.2 504 11.7 553 14.8 277 11.7 772
prospectivelyratherthan cross-sectionally. 16th 18.4 428 18.0 185 15.9 564 18.6 257 18.0 185 16.4 735
The resultsof such a prospectiveanalysis 17th 21.3 158 18.0 116 18.8 472 12.0 89 18.0 116 20.9 541
are presented in Table 4. Teenagers who 18th 21.8 44 18.5 62 17.3 304 21.8 44 18.5 62 17.3 304
have not had intercourseby each birthday
White/other
are followedthroughtime to see whether 14th 6.8 787 7.1 219 3.4 223 6.9 626 7.1 219 4.5 384
those who have had sex educationby that 15th 10.3 584 14.5 205 10.8 364 10.0 393 14.5 205 10.8 555
birthdayare anymoreor less likelyto subse- 16th 16.3 309 18.5 141 15.0 423 17.1 188 18.5 141 15.0 544
quently initiateintercoursethan are those 17th 18.7 122 19.0 95 18.3 367 9.3 71 19.0 95 20.2 418
who have nothad sexeducationbythatbirth- 18th 21.6 40 17.9 52 17.3 251 21.6 40 17.9 52 17.3 251
day. We use theyearfollowing each birthday
as the period of observation;witha longer Black
14th 9.9 339 7.8 79 21.8 95 8.5 265 7.8 79 18.0 169
observationperiod,some ofthewomenclas-
15th 23.6 237 16.7 72 13.5 140 22.6 160 16.7 72 17.3 217
sifiedas not havingreceivedsex education
16th 32.9 119 14.3 44 22.3 141 30.2 69 14.3 44 25.8 191
might subsequently receive such instruc-
17th 47.4 36 8.3 21 22.6 105 42.1 18 8.3 21 26.2 123
tion,thusinvalidating thecomparison. Expo-
18th 29.5 4 24.9 10 17.8 53 29.5 4 24.9 10 17.8 53
sure to sex educationis representedbythree
categories:teenagerswho have had neither *Assumption 1: Womenwhoreceived contraceptive instruction
duringtheyearfollowing thebirthday are
specified
assumedtohavereceivedthatinstruction attheendoftheyear,andafter first ifintercourse
intercourse, occurred;
pregnancynor contraceptiveeducationby thesewomenare included withthoseclassifiedas receivingneitherpregnancy norcontraceptive bythe
instruction
the birthdayspecified;thosewho have ever birthday specified.Assumption2: Womenwhoreceivedcontraceptive instruction
duringtheyearfollowing the
birthday areassumedtohavereceived
specified thatinstruction
atthestartoftheyear,andbefore first if
intercourse,
receivedpregnancyeducationonlyandthose intercourse
occurred;these women are included with thoseclassified
as receivingbothtypesof instruction
bythe
birthday
specified.
who have received instructionabout both
of instruction
inrelationtofirst
intercourse isunknown.
pregnancyand contraception bythebirthday tTiming pregnancy
tCategoryincludesa smallnumber ofwomenwhoreceived contraceptive instruction
only.
specified.For thisand all subsequentanaly-

Volume 18, Number4, July/August

1986 165

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EffectsofSex Educationon AdolescentBehavior

Table 5. Amongwomenaged 15-19who have neverhad premarital intercourse

priorto each successive birthday,
likelihoodof initiating
intercourseduringtheyearfollowing
thatbirthday:
logitcoefficients
Characteristic Assumption1 Assumption2
Birthday Birthday
14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th
(N=1,775) (N=1,632) (N=1,202) (N=761) (N=417) (N=1,775) (N=1,632) (N=1,202) (N=761) (N=417)
Black - - - - - - - -
Mother'seducation -12 yrs. -0.506 -0.649 -0.712 - - -0.521 -0.649 -0.712
Black and mother'seducation -12 yrs. - - - - - - - -
Livedwithbothparentsat age 14 -0.415 -1.027 -0.537 - - -0.443 -1.027 -0.537
Income above povertylevel - - -0.426 - - - - -0.426 -
Educationat/above expected level -1.107 -0.549 -0.382 -0.736 - -1.091 -0.549 -0.382 -0.736
Black and educationat/
above expected level 1.098 - - 0.680 - 1.033 - - 0.680
Catholic - - - - -
Agnostic - - - - - - - - - -
Attendschurch- 1 timeperwk. -0.835 -0.562 -0.704 -0.755 -0.909 -0.873 -0.562 -0.704 -0.755 -0.909
NorthCentral - - - - - 0.680 - - - -
South - 0.308 - - - 0.702 0.308 - - -
West 0.579 - - 0.579 _ 1.143 - - 0.579
Suburb - - - - -
Non-SMSA - - - - 0.757 - - - 0.757
Ever had pregnancyeducationonly - - - - -

Had pregnancyand contraceptive

education bybirthday
specified - - - - - 0.390 - - - -

Intercept -1.255 -0.415 0.293 -0.744 -1.363 | -1.907 -0.415 0.293 -0.744 -1.363
Notes: For definitionofassumptions1 and 2, see Table 4. Allcoefficients
shownare significant
at p<0.05; nonsignificant
coefficientsare indicatedbydashes; coefficientsdiffer
underassumptions 1 and 2 onlywhenthecontraceptive educationvariableis among those includedinthe reduced model. Inthistable and Tables 7 and 9, SMSA = standard
metropolitan statisticalarea.

the data failto showany consistenteffectof withTable 4. Backwardsstepwiseregression grade level attainedby women her age-
priorsex educationon theprobability offirst was used to eliminateall predictorvariables shows a consistentnegativeassociationwith
intercourse. that were not statisticallysignificantat the transition at ages 14-17,itis
to sexualactivity
However, the approach used in Table 4 p<O.05 level;theresultsofthefinal,reduced not clear thatthisfactorreducesthe riskof
failsto accountforthe effects ofanypossible modelsare showninTable 5. firstcoitus. Rather,the negativecoefficients
socioeconomicor demographicdifferences In only one model-that predictingfirst mayresultfroman effectofadolescentpreg-
between the sex education subgroups.To coitusat age 14 underthesecondassumption nancy on educational attainment,in that
address thisproblem,we estimatedfivelo- tion-does sex educationshow a significantsome ofthewomenwho initiatesexualactiv-
gisticregressionmodelspredictinginitiation effect: Prior contraceptiveeducation in- ityduringadolescencebecomepregnantand
ofpremaritalintercourse withinone yearfol- creases the odds ofstartingintercourse at 14 drop out of school, eitherpermanentlyor
lowingthe 14th, 15th,16th,17thand 18th by a factorof 1.5.* (Receipt of pregnancy temporarily.
birthdays;thesemodels,whichadjustforthe education alone has no significant effectat
effectsof demographicand otherfactorson any age.) Since the probabilityof starting Contraceptive Knowledge and Practice
the outcome variable, include among the coitus at age 14 is only seven percent(see The 1982 NSFG asked teenagerespondents
predictorstwo dummyvariablesrepresent- Table 3), an odds ratioof 1.5 has minimal whethertheyknewthetimeduringthemen-
ing sex educationexperienceat the startof implicationsforthe overallincidenceoffirst strualcyclewhenconceptionis mostlikelyto
the period of observation.We ran twover- intercourseduringadolescence. occur (theywere read a listof choices)and
sions of each model, reflecting the two as- Several othervariables,in contrast,dem- whether they knew how to use any of 14
sumptionsdescribed above in connection onstrateconsistentsignificant effectson the methodsofbirthcontrol.t Thirty-two percent
initiationof intercourse.Churchattendance were able to identifythe time duringthe
one or moretimesa weekreducestheoddsof menstrualcycle when conceptionis most
*The odds ratiois obtainedbyexponentiatingthelogistic
regressioncoefficient;
first
coitusat all ages,and maternaleducation likely.The proportion was overtwiceas high
the 95 percentconfidenceinterval
is 1.0-2.2. of 12 or more years and presence of both for nonblackteenagers(34 percent)as for
parentsin the home at age 14 both reduce blackteenagers(16 percent),and itincreased
fThe possibleanswersto the questionon the menstrual
cycle were rightbeforeperiod begins, duringperiod, the odds at ages 14-16. Residence in any from15 percentat age 15 to 42 percentatage
about a week afterperiodbegins,about twoweeksafter regionoutside the Northeastappears to in- 19. A logisticregressionmodel predicting
period begins,and it makesno differenceall timesare crease the likelihoodoffirstcoitusat age 14, correctknowledgefoundno statistically sig-
the same. The contraceptivemethodsinquiredabout at
least in the modelbased on assumption1. nificanteffectassociatedwithreceiptoffor-
were the pill, condom,foam,jellyor cream,suppository,
diaphragm,douche, IUD, femaleand male sterilization, Although
the teenager'sown educationalat- mal pregnancyor contraceptive educationat
naturalfamilyplanning,rhythm,withdrawaland absti- tainment-definedin thisanalysisas attain- any time, althoughthe crude (unadjusted)
nence. ment equal to or higherthan the median proportionswere 21 percentforadolescents

166 FamilyPlanningPerspectives

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 whohad had neither pregnancy norcontra-threemeasuresof contraceptive practice
ceptiveeducation, 31 percent forthosewho The proportion ofever-users (amongteen. Table 6. Amongwomenaged 15-19whohave
had receivedpregnancy education onlyand agerssexuallyactivebeforemarriage) risec had premaritalintercourse,percentagewho
34 percentforthosewhohadhadbothtypes from70 percentinthegroupwithnoformal have ever used a contraceptivemethod,and
ofeducation. sexeducation to80percent ofthosewhohave percentageof ever-userswho have used a
The questionaboutcontraceptive knowl- hadpregnancy methodat firstintercourse;and percentage
education onlyandto86per- of never-married
edgewasaskedonlyofteenagewomenwho centofthosewhohavereceivedbothpreg- womenat riskof unintend-
ed pregnancywho are currently using; ac-
hadeverhadintercourse. Within thisgroup, nancyand contraceptive education. Among cordingto receiptofformalinstruction about
three-quarters or morereported thatthey ever-users, theproportion relying ona meth- pregnancyand contraception
knewhowtouse birthcontrol pillsandcon- od at firstintercourse is 16-17percentage
doms(98percent and96percent, Measure Typeofinstruction received*
respective-pointshigherforadolescents whohavere-
ly), withdrawal (80 percent),spermicidalceivedbothtypesofeducation thanforthose Neither Pregnancy Preg-
foam(78 percent) anddouches(76percent). whohavehad neither (thedifference inthe pregnancy onlyt nancy
norcontra- & contra-
The averagenumber ofmethods theteenag- rangeresults from thetwoassumptions made ceptive ceptive4
erssaidtheyknewhowtousewas10.5-8.1 aboutthetiming ofcontraceptive education).
forthosewhohadhadneither % N % N % N
pregnancy nor Sex education bearsa muchweakerassocia-
contraceptive education, 10.0forthosewho tionwithcurrent contraceptive use,howev- Ever-use 69.7 135 80.1 135 86.1 653
hadreceivedpregnancy education only,and er.Amongnever-married teenagers atrisko: Use at 1st
11.1 forthosewho had had bothtypesof an unintended pregnancy, theproportionscoitus
instruction.A differentialby sexeducation currently usinga method rangefrom 58 per- Assum.1? 51.7 373 53.6 115 68.8 286
statusremained afteradjustment fortheef- centto62percent acrossthethreesexeduca- Assum.2? 49.3 249 53.6 115 65.3 410
fectsofothervariables through multiple lin- tioncategories. Current use 58.2 84 60.3 103 61.8 496
ear regression: Adolescentswho had re- To evaluatetheeffects ofsexeducation net *Foruse at firstintercourse, criterionis whether sex
ceivedformalinstruction' aboutpregnancyofthe influence ofdemographic and socio- educationwas receivedbeforefirst intercourse;forever-
and birthcontrolknewhowto use an es- economic use andcurrent use,criterion iswhether sex education
characteristics, weestimated logis- was everreceived.
timated2.2 moremethods thanadolescents ticregression modelspredicting eachofthe tTimingofpregnancy instruction inrelationtofirst in-
whohadreceivednoinstruction. * threemeasures ofcontraceptive use.Table7 tercourseis unknown.
To determine whether thisdifferential in (page 168)showstheresultsofthereduced tCategoryincludesa smallnumber ofwomenwhore-
ceivedcontraceptive instructiononly.
knowledge carriesoverto behavior, we ex- models,from whichnonsignificant variables ?Assumption1: None of thewomenwho had first
aminedtheeffects offormal sexeducation on are excluded. The resultsindicatethat intercourse and receivedcontraceptive education dur-
threemeasuresofadolescent contraceptiveamongadolescent ingthesameyearofage received thateducation prior to
womenwhohaveengaged intercourse. Assumption2: Allofthewomenwhohad
practice:theproportion ofpremaritally sexu- in premarital intercourse, thosewhohave firstintercourse and contraceptive educationat the
allyactiveteenagewomenwhohaveever everhadformal same age received thateducation priortointercourse.
pregnancy education onlyor
useda contraceptive method, theproportionformal pregnancy and contraceptive educa-
of premaritally sexuallyactiveever-userstionaresignificantly morelikely tohaveused
whouseda methodat first intercourse,and a methodat sometimethanare thosewho *The 95 percentcoinfidenceintervalforthedifferencein
theproportion numberofmethodsknownis 1.6-2.8. The NSFG madeno
ofnever-married teenagers at havereceivedneither typeofinstruction; the attemptto verifyrespondents'answersto thequestionon
riskofan unintended pregnancyt whoare oddsratioforeachofthetwosexeducation contraceptiveknowledge.
currently usinga method. groupsisestimated at2.2.JOthercharacter-
Amongall 15-19-year-olds whohavehad isticsthatincreasetheoddsofever-usein- fThatis, teenagerswhoare sexuallyactive,notpregnant,
premarital intercourse,the NSFG reveals, clude adolescenteducational attainment
postpartumor seekingto become pregniant,
at ile. and notster-
83percent haveuseda contraceptive atsome orabovetheexpected level,maternal educa-
time. The proportionis slightlyhigher tionofat least12yearsandblackrace.Low 'In the case ofpregnancyedtucationonly,the95 percent
amongnonblackwomen(84 percent)than frequency ofintercourse decreases theodds.? confidenceintervalfortheodds ratiois 1.2-4.2; inthecase
amongblacks(79percent) andriseswithage, Amongpremaritally sexually
ofpregnancyand
activeever- intervalis 1.4-3.5.contraceptiveeducation,theconfidence
from58 percentamong15-year-olds to 87 users,receiptofpregnancy and contracep-
percentamong19-year-olds. Sixty percentof tive educationpriorto firstcoitussignifi-?The negative coefficientassociated with the variable
premaritally sexuallyactiveever-users re- cantlyincreasestheoddsofmethoduse at "blackand mother'seducation-12 yrs."signifiesthatthe
portrelianceon a methodat firstcoitus; first coitus.Theestimated positiveeffects
associatedwiththetwocharacteristics
oddsratioiseither sidered individually con-
are not additive not that being
again,whitesandotheradolescents aremore 1.4 or 1.8,depending ontheassumption ap- black and havinga well-educatedmotherreduces the
likelytohavepracticed contraception atthat pliedtothesubgroup reporting thesameage odds ofever-use.
timethanare blacks(63 percentcompared forfirst intercourse andcontraceptive educa-
with47 percent). Theprobability ofmethod tion.**Exposuretoformal pregnancy
**For the odds ratioof 1.4, the 95 percentconfidence
educa- intervalis 1.0-1.9; fortheodds ratio of1.8, theintervalis
use at first
intercourse riseswithageat that tionalone exhibitsno significant effecton 1.3-2.5.
event,from 33 percentatages13andyoun- contraceptive practice atfirst intercourse. ft
gerto55 percentatage 15andto78percent Educationalattainment appropriate forthe if Eighty percent of the teenagerswho ever received
atage 19.Amongnever-married adolescents teenager's age andfamily
contraceptiveeducationdid so beforefirstintercourse.
incomeabovethe Presumably,pregnancyeducation is providedat no later
at risk,61 percentare currently usinga poverty levelraisetheoddsofmethod useat an age thanis contraceptiveeducation;consequently,itis
method,the proportions being virtuallyfirst intercourse, whileresidence outsidethe likelythatmostofthe teenagerswho everreceivedpreg-
identical forblacks (62 percent)and other Northeast andblackracelowertheodds.The nancy education received it before firstintercourse.
youngwomen(61 percent). effectof this last variable, however,is di- Therefore,althoughthe timingofpregnancyeducationis
unknown,specifying pregnancyeducationas a predictor
As illustratedin Table 6, exposureto for- minishedforblackadolescentswhohaverel-
ofcontraceptiveuse at firstintercourseshouldnotintro-
mal sex educationhas a positiveeffecton all ativelywell educatedmothers. duce anygreaterror.

Volume 18, Number4, July/August

1986 167

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EffectsofSex Educationon AdolescentBehavior

The variablesfurnished bythe1982NSFG The NSFG data show that31 percentof Table 8 shows,forall teenagerswho ini-
are poor predictorsofcurrentuse ofcontra- 15-19-year-oldswho have engaged in pre- tiateintercoursebeforemarriage,thecumu-
ceptives. The onlyfactorsfoundto increase maritalintercourse have experiencedat least lativelife-tableprobability offirst premarital
the likelihoodofcurrentuse fornever-mar- one premaritalpregnancy.The proportions pregnancyby variousmonthsfollowing first
ried teenagersat riskofan unintendedpreg- are 45 percentforblack adolescentsand 27 coitus. Four percent conceive withinone
nancyare the teenager'seducationalattain- percentforotheryoungwomen;thedifferen-monthofinitiating intercourse (i.e., byexact
ment, pregnancyhistoryand frequencyof tialpersists,thoughit is slightly diminished, monthone), 12 percent,withinsix months,
intercourse.Formalsex educationexertsno afteradjustmentforpovertystatus.Among and 19 percent,withinone year.The median
statistically
significanteffecton currentuse adolescentswho have conceivedpremarital- durationto firstpregnancy(thatis, theinter-
-a somewhatunexpectedfindinggivenits ly, the mean age at the firstsuchconception val withinwhichone-halfofpremaritally sex-
significantassociationwithever-use.Had we is 16.6, withno difference by race. Twelve ually active teenagers conceive) is 44.8
been able to includein themodeldataabout percent of premaritally pregnantteenagers months-37.0 monthsforblack adolescents
the regularityof intercourseat the time of conceive withinone month of firstinter- and 48.8 forothers(notshown).
interview(data notprovidedby the NSFG), course,and 56 percent,withinone year.The Table 8 also showsthe probability ofpre-
an associationbetween sex education and average numberofmonthsbetweenfirstin- marital pregnancyamong sexually active
currentuse mighthave been detected. tercourseand firstpremaritalpregnancyis adolescentsaccordingtoreceiptofsexeduca-
14.1-15.5 monthsforblack teenagersand tion prior to firstintercourse. t Under the
Premarital Pregnancy 13.6 forotheradolescents. firstofthe twoassumptionswe have applied
Analysisoftheeffects ofsexeducationon the
riskof adolescentpregnancyis impairedby
Table 7. Amongwomenaged 15-19whohavehad premarital intercourse, likelihood ofhaving
the seriousunderreporting ofinducedabor- ever
used a contraceptive method;amongever-users,likelihoodofhavingused a methodat
tions in the 1982 NSFG. Respondentsaged firstintercourse;and among never-married womenat riskof unintendedpregnancy,likeli-
15-19 are estimatedto have reportedonly33 hood ofcurrently using:logitcoefficients
percent of the abortionsthey obtained in
Characteristic Ever- Use atfirstcoitus Current
1981. Estimatesby race amongwomen 15-
use use
44 (comparableestimatesforteenagersare Assum. 1 Assum.2
notavailable)suggestan even greaterunder- (N= (N= (N= (N=
922) 804) 804) 679)
countamongblackteenagers.9
Because of the difficulty involvedin es- Age 16 - _ _
timatingthe timingof unreportedpregnan- Age 17 _ _
cies endingin abortionand in identifyingthe Age 18 0.422 -
women who mighthave experiencedthem, Age 19 - - -0.391
we have made no adjustmentsin the preg- Black 0.783 -0.793 -0.873
nancydata used forthisanalysis.According- Mother'seducation -12 yrs. 0.839 - -

ly, our estimates of the proportionsofsexu- Blackand mother'seducation -12 yrs. -1.305 0.546 0.536
allyactiveteenagerswhohaveexperienceda Livedwithbothparentsat age 14 - - -

premaritalpregnancyare too low and our Income above povertylevel - 0.426 0.417 -

estimatesofsurvivaltimestofirst conception Educationat/above expected level 0.852 0.957 0.969 0.646

may be too long.* Moreover,if failureto Black and educationat/above expected level - - -

reportpregnanciesendingin inducedabor- Catholic _ _ _

tionis associatedwithexposureto formalsex Agnostic - _ _
education-a questionwe cannotanswer- Attendschurch -1 time perwk. - _ -

thenour findings on theeffectsofsex educa- NorthCentral - -0.666 -0.698 -

tionon pregnancyriskmaybe inaccurate. South - -0.661 -0.676 -

West - -1.106 -1.120 -
Suburb 0.559 - -
*The degreetowhichsurvivaltofirstpregnancy isoveres- Non-SMSA - 0.394 -
timateddepends on the ordersof the pregnanciesnot Everpregnant - na na 0.485
reported. The NSFG indicatesthat the proportionof
aborted pregnanciesthatare firstpregnac-iesis higher
Duration
ofsexualactivity 0.022 na na
amongnonblacksthanamongblacks. Highfrequency
ofcoitus - na na 0.624
Lowfrequencyofcoitus -0.763 na na
tClassifyingsexeducationas occurring beforeorafterfirst Age 16 at 1stcoitus na _ - na
coitusavoids the problemofselectionthatwouldarise if
Age 17 at 1stcoitus na - - na
the variablewere classifiedas occurringbeforeor after
firstpremaritalpregnancy.Under the latterapproach, Age 18 at 1st coitus na - - na
adolescentswho receivedsex educationaftera firstpreg- Age 19at 1st coitus na - - na
nancywould have to be classifiedwiththosewho never Everhadpregnancy
education
only 0.791 - -
received sex education,some of whomwould have ex- Everhadpregnancy
andcontraceptive
education 0.789 na na
perienced a pregnancyand some of whom would not.
Thus, the groupof never-receivers would includean ex- Had pregnancyandcontraceptive
cess of premaritally pregnantteenagers,and thisover- educationprior
to 1stcoitus na 0.593 0.314 na
representationwould create a spuriousrelationship be- Intercept -0.520 -0.466 -0.166 -0.206
tweensex educationand theoutcomevariable.Sincethis
analysisis restrictedto sexuallyactivewomen,the prob- Notes:For definition
of assumptions 1 and 2, see Table 6. Allcoefficients
shownare significant
at p<0.05;
lem ofselectionis avoidedwhensexeducationisclassified
coefficients
nonsignificant are indicated
bydashes;na indicates variablesinappropriate inthemodel
forinclusion
specified.
in relationtofirstintercourse.

168 FamilyPlanningPerspectives

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 to teenagerswhoreportthesameage forfirst
coitusand firstcontraceptiveinstruction, 37 Table 8. Among women aged 15-19 who have had premaritalintercourse, percentage who
percentof those who receive neitherpreg- have ever had a premaritalpregnancy,cumulative probabilityof having had a firstpremarital
nancy nor contraceptiveeducationpriorto pregnancy by successive monthsafterfirstintercourse,and median numberofmonthsto first
firstintercoursebecome premaritally premarital pregnancy, according to receipt of formalinstructionabout pregnancy and con-
preg-
traception priorto firstintercourse
nant,comparedwith22 percentofthosewho
receive both typesof instruction beforefirst Measure Total Typeofinstructionreceived
priorto1stcoitus
coitus. The differentialis slightlysmaller- Assumption 1 Assumption2
38 percentvs. 25 percent-underthesecond
assumption.The cumulativeprobabilities Neither Preg- Preg- Neither Preg- Preg-
of
pregnancy nancy nancy pregnancy nancy nancy
premaritalpregnancyby variousmonthsre- nor only* and nor only* and
veal varyingpatternsaccordingto sexeduca- contra- contra- contra- contra-
tioncategory;however,themedianduration ceptive ceptivet ceptive ceptivet
to firstpremaritalconceptionis almostiden- (N=926) (N=430) (N=135) (N=343) (N=291) (N=135) (N=482)
ticalforteenagerswho obtainsex education % ever
beforefirstintercourseand forthosewho do pregnant 30.8 37.1 31.6 21.6 38.3 31.6 25.1
not. Cum.% probability
We used logitregressionto evaluate the byeach month
net effect(afteradjustmentforthe effects of 1 3.8 3.5 4.0 4.2 4.2 4.0 3.6
otherfactors)of sex educationpriorto first 2 5.4 5.9 4.2 5.8 6.7 4.2 5.3
intercourse on theriskofpremarital pregnan- 3 8.1 9.6 5.1 7.5 10.2 5.1 7.7
cy. The analysisis again limitedto adoles- 6 12.2 13.3 10.0 10.5 15.2 10.0 10.2
cents who have had premaritalintercourse. 9 15.7 17.2 16.5 12.3 18.8 16.5 12.8
We estimatedtwomodels,corresponding to 12 18.9 18.9 21.1 17.3 21.7 21.1 16.4
our twoassumptionsaboutthetimingofcon- 18 23.5 25.8 21.7 20.1 29.3 21.7 19.6
traceptiveeducation;the results,whichare 24 30.4 34.8 29.4 21.2 39.6 29.4 22.7
identicalunderbothassumptions, are shown 36 38.2 41.9 36.0 29.9 45.0 36.0 32.0
in Table 9 (page 170). The models findno 48 52.6 55.0 46.9 52.0 50.5 46.9 58.5
statisticallysignificanteffect for either 60 66.1 64.6 66.2 65.2 56.9 66.2 73.1
pregnancyeducationalone orpregnancy and
Medianno.
contraceptiveeducationpriorto firstcoitus.
ofmonthsto
The factorsthatexhibita significant negative 1stpregnancyt 44.8 44.5 48.2 44.9 46.4 48.2 44.7
effectare relativelyhighmaternaleducation,
income above the povertylevel, residence *Timing
ofpregnancy inrelation
instruction tofirst
intercourseisunknown.
with both parentsat age 14, residencein a tCategoryincludesa smallnumber ofwomenwhoreceived contraceptiveinstruction
only.
on
nonmetropolitan area, and appropriateedu- tBased life-table analysis. Note:Fordefinitionofassumptions 1 and2,see Table6.
cational attainmentfor age (althoughthe
causal directionof this last relationshipis our analysesfailto showanyconsistentrela- method. Amongever-users,those who are
again unclear). The factorsthat raise the tionshipbetween exposureto contraceptive exposed to contraceptiveeducationpriorto
odds of premaritalpregnancyare older age educationand subsequentinitiation ofinter- firstintercourseare more likelyto use a
(19), blackrace, residencein theNorthCen- course. The only significant findingregard- methodat thatevent. No significant associa-
tralstates,highfrequencyofintercourse and ing this relationshipappears at age 14, and tion withcurrentcontraceptiveuse (among
durationofsexualactivity. then only under an extremeand unrealistic never-marriedteenagers) is discernible;
assumptionabout the timingof contracep- however,thisfindingmayreflectthesporad-
Discussion tive education(namely,thatwhen it occurs ic natureofadolescentsexualactivity and the
The precedinganalysesreveal that68 per- at the same age as firstcoitus,it alwayspre- consequentdifficulty ofdetermining wheth-
centof 15-19-year-old womenhave received cedes coitus).Moreover,underthealternate er teenagersare currently active.
formalinstruction aboutpregnancyand con- assumption(thateducationalwaysprecedes The finalresultto emergefromtheanaly-
traceptivemethods,and 16 percenthave re- coitus), contraceptiveeducationexhibitsno sis is that neitherpregnancyeducationnor
ceived pregnancyeducationonly;another16 effecton initiationof intercourseat age 14. contraceptiveeducation exertsany signifi-
percenthave been exposed to neithertopic Nor do anyeffects appearat laterages. Atno canteffecton theriskofpremarital pregnan-
in a formalsex educationprogram.The data, age, in addition,does exposureto education cy amongsexuallyactiveteenagers-a find-
however,tellus nothingabouttheamountof about pregnancyaffectthe odds of having ingthatcalls intoquestiontheargumentthat
instruction provided;manyofthe teenagers intercourseforthefirsttime. formalsex educationis an effective tool for
mayhave been exposed to onlya briefmen- On the other hand, sex educationdoes reducingadolescentpregnancy.
tionofthesetopicsor to a singleclasssession influencecontraceptiveknowledgeand be- However, a number of data limitations
devoted to them. Nor do we learnanything havior.Comparedwithsexuallyactiveyoung may affectthe validityand usefulnessofthe
fromthe NSFG data about the qualityof women who receive no formalinstruction findingspresentedin thisarticle.As already
instruction, possiblecoursebiases or course about pregnancyand birth control,those noted, the NSFG furnishesno information
status(electiveor required). who receivebothtypesofinstruction report- on the content,quantityor qualityof sex
Between 57 percent and 65 percentof edly know how to use more contraceptive educationas actuallyprovided;thesecharac-
teenagers receive formalcontraceptivein- methods;and thosewho receiveeithertype teristicsvarywidelyacross school systems.
structionbeforeinitiatingcoitus. However, of instructionare more likelyto ever use a The substantialunderreporting of abortion

Volume 18, Number4, July/August

1986 169

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
EffectsofSex Educationon AdolescentBehavior

additionalresearch. Use of prospectivede- 3. D. Kirby,1984, op. cit. (see reference1); M. Zelnik

Table 9. Amongwomenaged 15-19whohave signsthatincorporateimprovedmeasuresof and Y. J. Kim, "Sex Educationand Its Associationwith
had premarital intercourse,
likelihoodof be- the extent,typeand timingofsex education Teenage Sexual Activity,Pregnancyand Contraceptive
coming premaritally pregnant:logitcoeffi- may help clear up some of the unresolved Use," Family Planning Perspectives, 14:117, 1982;
cients W. Yarborand T. Anno,"Changesin Sex Guilt,Premari-
issues; and studies thatcomparethe effec- tal Sexual IntimacyAttitudesand SexualBehaviorDuring
Characteristic Coefficient*tivenessof different typesof programs(for a Human SexualityCourse," Health Education, 12:17,
(N=923) example,thoseoffered alongwithcontracep- 1981; G. Spanier,"Sex Educationand PremaritalSexual
Behavior Among AmericanCollege Students,"Adoles-
Age 16 tive services vs. those offering
informationcence, 13:659, 1978; --, "Sources of Sex Information
Age 17 only)mayhelp identify whichfeaturesofsex and PremaritalSexual Behavior,"Journal of Sex Re-
Age 18 -
educationprogramsmaybe mostimportant search, 13:73, 1977;and --, "Formaland InformalSex
Age 19 0.619 Education as Determinantsof PremaritalSexual Behav-
Black 0.466 in the reductionofadolescentpregnancy. ior,"ArchivesofSexual Behavior,5:39, 1976.
Mother'seducation-12 yrs. -0.411
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Intercept -0.421
2. L. Cooper, 1982, op. cit.(see reference1); G. Parcel
ence 1).
and D. Luttman,1981, op. cit. (see reference1);--,
1 and2 are identical,
*Resultsunderassumptions be-
cause thevariableforcontraceptive "EffectsofSex Educationon SexualAttitudes,"Journal
education to
prior of 7. M. Zelnik and Y. J. Kim, 1982, op. cit. (see refer-
first
intercourse
yieldeda nonsignificant
coefficient
and
CurrentAdolescentMedicine,2:38, 1980; M. Story,"A ence 3).
was therefore in
notincluded thereducedmodel.
LongitudinalStudyofthe Effectsofa University Human
Notes:Allcoefficients
shownaresignificant atp<0.05;
SexualityCourse on Sexual Attitudes,"Journalof Sex 8. J. R. Kahn,W. Kalsbeckand S. L. Hofferth,"Nation-
nonsignificant
coefficients
areindicatedbydashes.
Research, 49:404, 1979; M. Carrera, E. Baker and al Estimatesof Teenage Sexual Activity:Evaluatingthe
K. McCombs, "A Sex EducationProgramThatWorked, Comparabilityof Three National Surveys,"paper pre-
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are also drawbacks. as haviorsand AttitudesofCollege Students,"Journalofthe
Ofgreatimportance "Sexual Activity,Contraceptive Use and Pregnancy
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education.
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170 FamilyPlanningPerspectives

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