Effectiveness of a School-Based Pregnancy Prevention Intervention for Female Teenagers and Their Boyfriends: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

PurposeThis study examined the effectiveness of a school-based pregnancy prevention intervention. Methods73 female and male teenagers were recruited from an urban secondary school and randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. The females were aged 13–15 years, and the boyfriends were aged 13–18 years. The intervention was implemented in six sessions over six weeks. Sessions 1–4 were conducted at the school, and sessions 5–6 were delivered via a smartphone messaging application. The outcomes included sexual health literacy, pregnancy prevention behaviors, and sexual risk behaviors. They were measured three times: at baseline (week 0, T1), immediately post-intervention (week 6, T2), and follow-up (week 10, T3). Two-way mixed repeated measure ANOVA was used to determine the differences of the outcomes. ResultsAfter completion of the intervention, participants in the intervention group had significantly higher sexual health literacy both at T2 and T3 and better pregnancy prevention behavior. They had lower sexual risk behaviors at T3 than the control group. DiscussionThe results indicate that the school-based pregnancy prevention intervention is effective. It improved the outcomes in female teenagers and their boyfriends at six weeks and 10 weeks post-intervention.