Volume 33, Number 2 March/April 2001
Effects of a Parent-Child Communications
Intervention on Young Adolescents'
Risk for Early Onset of Sexual Intercourse
TABLES
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Family Planning Perspectives Volume 33, Number 2 March/April 2001 | |
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Effects of a Parent-Child Communications |
| Table 1. Percentage of students reporting specific knowledge or behaviors, or mean score (and standard deviation) for dependent variables, at baseline and posttest surveys | ||
| Variable | Baseline | Posttest |
| Knowledge | ||
| Abstinence effectiveness (%) | 69.7 | 86.9**** |
| Pregnancy risk (%) | 86.9 | 91.4 |
| Sexual beliefs and attitudes | ||
| Overall beliefs supporting delay | 42.3 (6.7) | 43.3 (7.4) |
| Personally support delay | 26.6 (4.6) | 26.9 (4.9) |
| Friends/peers support delay | 8.5 (2.3) | 8.8 (2.4)* |
| Substance use increases risk-taking | 2.1 (1.0) | 2.0 (1.0) |
| Expect sex if had sex before | 2.4 (0.9) | 2.3 (1.0) |
| Media encourage adolescent sex | 2.9 (1.0) | 3.4 (0.9)*** |
| Perceive fewer sexually active peers | 1.1 (0.8) | 1.1 (0.8) |
| Self-efficacy for refusal/avoidance | ||
| Overall | 15.7 (4.1) | 16.3 (3.9) |
| Substance refusal/avoidance | 6.4 (1.8) | 6.5 (1.8) |
| Sexual refusal/avoidance | 9.4 (2.5) | 9.8 (2.4)* |
| Behavioral intentions | ||
| Likely to have sex before finishing H.S. | 0.6 (0.6) | 0.5 (0.6)** |
| Likelihood of intercourse (if attracted to an individual) | 2.3 (2.2) | 2.1 (2.3) |
| Parent-child communications | ||
| Comfort communicating with parents about sex | 2.5 (1.1) | 2.6 (1.0)* |
| Frequency of communication about sex† | ||
| Overall | 6.0 (5.9) | 6.5 (6.3) |
| Puberty/physiological changes | 0.7 (0.9) | 0.7 (0.9) |
| Sexual expectations | 2.9 (2.8) | 3.2 (3.0) |
| Prevention strategies | 1.0 (1.6) | 1.3 (1.7) |
| Consequences of sexual intercourse | 1.4 (1.8) | 1.4 (1.8) |
| Frequency of discussions about class activities | ||
| Class lessons | na | 2.2 (1.0) |
| Homework assignments | na | 2.1 (1.2) |
| Sexual opportunities† | ||
| No. of potentially sexual situations | 1.3 (1.9) | 1.3 (1.8) |
| No. of sexual situations | 1.6 (2.2) | 1.5 (2.2) |
| Avoided/refused high-risk or sexual situations‡ | ||
| Overall | 72.4 (44.7) | 77.8 (56.9) |
| Refused potentially sexual situations | 74.0 (55.8) | 63.9 (49.7) |
| Refused sexual situations | 75.1 (51.7) | 86.5 (64.6) |
| Substance use and sexual behaviors | ||
| Lifetime alcohol use | 2.0 (1.2) | 2.1 (1.5) |
| Recent alcohol use§ | 0.4 (0.9) | 0.5 (1.2) |
| Went further sexually than wanted to‡ | 1.5 (0.7) | 1.6 (0.6) |
| Ever had sexual intercourse (%) | 5.7 | 6.4 |
| Recent sexual intercourse (%)† | 2.0 | 4.4 |
| *p<=.05. **p<=.01. ***p<=.001. ****p<=.0001. †In the past three months. ‡Among those in these situations in the past three months. §In the past 30 days. Note: na=not applicable. | ||
| Table 2. Percentage of students reporting specific knowledge or behaviors, or adjusted mean score (and standard error) for dependent variables, by intervention group, posttest survey | |||
| Variable | MPM-only | MPM-enhanced | F |
| Knowledge | |||
| Abstinence effectiveness (%) | 87.2 (2.6) | 84.6 (2.6) | ns |
| Pregnancy risk (%) | 91.8 (2.0) | 92.9 (2.0) | ns |
| Sexual beliefs and attitudes | |||
| Overall beliefs supporting delay | 43.5 (0.40) | 43.3 (0.37) | ns |
| Personally support delay | 26.9 (0.28) | 27.1 (0.26) | ns |
| Friends/peers support delay | 8.8 (0.15) | 9.0 (0.14) | ns |
| Substance use increases risk-taking | 2.1 (0.07) | 1.9 (0.07) | ns |
| Expect sex if had sex before | 2.4 (0.07) | 2.2 (0.06) | 3.6* |
| Media encourage adolescent sex | 3.4 (0.06) | 3.3 (0.06) | ns |
| Perceive fewer sexually active peers | 1.1 (0.05) | 1.1 (0.05) | ns |
| Self-efficacy for refusal/avoidance | |||
| Overall | 15.8 (0.24) | 16.8 (0.22) | 10.3** |
| Substance refusal/avoidance | 6.2 (0.12) | 6.8 (0.11) | 10.7*** |
| Sexual refusal/avoidance | 9.6 (0.15) | 10.2 (0.14) | 7.5** |
| Behavioral intentions | |||
| Likely to have sex before finishing H.S. | 0.5 (0.03) | 0.4 (0.03) | 8.3** |
| Likelihood of intercourse (if attracted to an individual) | 2.2 (0.12) | 1.9 (0.11) | ns |
| Parent-child communications | |||
| Comfort communicating with parents about sex | 2.6 (0.07) | 2.7 (0.06) | ns |
| Frequency of communication about sex† | |||
| Overall | 5.8 (0.39) | 7.2 (0.37) | 6.9** |
| Puberty/physiological changes | 0.7 (0.06) | 0.7 (0.06) | ns |
| Sexual expectations | 3.0 (0.19) | 3.4 (0.19) | ns |
| Prevention strategies | 1.0 (0.11) | 1.6 (0.11) | 13.3*** |
| Consequences of sexual intercourse | 1.1 (0.11) | 1.6 (0.11) | 8.0** |
| Frequency of discussions about class activities | |||
| Class lessons | 1.8 (0.08) | 2.5 (0.08) | 29.7**** |
| Homework assignments | 1.3 (0.08) | 2.9 (0.07) | 241.8**** |
| Sexual opportunities† | |||
| No. of potentially sexual situations | 1.3 (0.11) | 1.3 (0.10) | ns |
| No. of sexual situations | 1.5 (0.13) | 1.5 (0.12) | ns |
| Avoided/refused high-risk or sexual situations‡ | |||
| Overall | 71.6 (4.0) | 72.6 (4.3) | ns |
| Refused potentially sexual situations | 68.7 (5.4) | 76.3 (5.6) | ns |
| Refused sexual situations | 73.9 (4.5) | 70.4 (5.4) | ns |
| Substance use and sexual behaviors | |||
| Lifetime alcohol use | 2.2 (0.08) | 1.9 (0.08) | 5.4* |
| Recent alcohol use§ | 0.6 (0.06) | 0.4 (0.06) | 4.2* |
| Went further sexually than wanted to‡ | 1.5 (0.22) | 1.7 (0.26) | ns |
| Ever had sexual intercourse (%) | 7.4 (1.6) | 5.1 (1.5) | ns |
| Recent sexual intercourse (%)† | 4.5 (1.3) | 3.2 (0.11) | ns |
| *p<=.05. **p<=.01. ***p<=.001. ****p<=.0001. †In the past three months. ‡Among those in these situations in the past three months. §In the past 30 days. Note: ns=not significant. | |||
| Table 3. Percentage of students reporting specific knowledge or behaviors, or mean score for dependent variables, by whether any homework activities were completed | ||||||
| Variable | All students | MPM-only | Homework completed | Pairwise comparison | Overall significance | |
| None | Any | |||||
| (N=351) | (N=161) | (N=36) | (N=154) | |||
| Self-efficacy for refusal/avoidance | ||||||
| Overall | 16.3 | 15.8 | 16.5 | 17.0 | a*** | .05 |
| Substance refusal/avoidance | 6.5 | 6.2 | 6.4 | 6.9 | a*** | .001 |
| Sexual refusal/avoidance | 9.9 | 9.6 | 10.1 | 10.2 | a** | .05 |
| Behavioral intentions | ||||||
| Likely to have sex before finishing high school | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | a,** b* | .01 |
| Parent-child communications | ||||||
| Overall frequency† | 6.5 | 5.8 | 5.2 | 7.4 | a**, c* | .01 |
| Puberty/physiological changes† | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.7 | ns | |
| Sexual expectations† | 3.2 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 3.6 | a*, c** | .01 |
| Prevention strategies† | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.6 | a*** | .001 |
| Consequences of sexual intercourse† | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.6 | a** | .05 |
| Frequency of discussion about class activities | ||||||
| Class lessons | 2.2 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 2.6 | a***, c*** | .0001 |
| Homework assignments | 2.1 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 3.2 | a***, c*** | .0001 |
| Substance use and sexual behaviors | ||||||
| Lifetime alcohol use | 2.0 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 1.8 | a** | .01 |
| Recent alcohol use‡ | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.4 | a** | .05 |
| Went further sexually tha wanted to go§ | 1.6 | 1.5 | 3.1 | 1.3 | b**, c*** | .01 |
| Ever had sexual intercourse (%) | 6.4 | 7.0 | 14.3 | 4.0 | ns | |
| Recent sexual intercourse (%)† | 4.4 | 4.4 | 14.3 | 2.0 | b*, c** | .001 |
| * p<=.05. ** p<=.01. *** p<=.001. **** p<=.0001. †In the past three months. ‡In the past 30 days. §Among adolescents in this situation in the past three months. Notes: The "overall significance" column refers to general tests of differences between groups, whereas the "pairwise comparison" column provides the precise location of differences between groups. a=MPM-only vs. any homework; b=MPM-only vs. did no homework; c=did no homework vs. did any homework. ns=nonsignificant. | ||||||
| Table 4. Percentage of students reporting specific knowledge or behaviors, or mean score for dependent variables, by number of homework activities completed | ||||||
| Variable | All students | MPM-only | Activities completed | Pairwise comparison | Overall significance | |
| <=3 | >=4 | |||||
| (N=351) | (N=161) | (N=102) | (N=88) | |||
| Self-efficacy for refusal/avoidance | ||||||
| Overall | 16.3 | 15.8 | 16.7 | 16.9 | a***, b** | .001 |
| Substance refusal/avoidance | 6.5 | 6.2 | 6.6 | 7.0 | b*** | .001 |
| Sexual refusal/avoidance | 9.9 | 9.6 | 10.3 | 10.0 | a* | .01 |
| Behavioral intentions | ||||||
| Likely to have sex before finishing high school | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | b*** | .004 |
| Parent-child communications | ||||||
| Overall frequency† | 6.5 | 5.8 | 6.7 | 7.4 | b* | .05 |
| Puberty/physiological changes† | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | ns | |
| Sexual expectations† | 3.2 | 3.0 | 3.2 | 3.4 | ns | |
| Prevention strategies† | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 1.7 | a*, b*** | .001 |
| Consequences of sexual intercourse† | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 1.7 | b** | .05 |
| Frequency of discussions about class activities | ||||||
| Class lessons | 2.2 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 2.7 | a**, b***, c** |
.0001 |
| Homework assignments | 2.1 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 3.5 | a***, b**, c*** |
.0001 |
| Substance use and sexual behaviors | ||||||
| Lifetime alcohol use | 2.0 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 1.8 | b*** | .01 |
| Recent alcohol use‡ | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.4 | ns | |
| Went further sexually than wanted to go§ | 1.6 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 0.8 | c** | .05 |
| Ever had sexual intercourse (%) | 6.4 | 7.0 | 7.1 | 4.6 | ns | |
| Recent sexual intercourse (%)† | 4.4 | 4.4 | 7.1 | 1.1 | ns | |
| * p<=.05. ** p<=.01. *** p<=.001. **** p<=.0001. †In the past three months.‡In the past 30 days. §Among adolescents in this situation in the past three months. Notes: The "overall significance" column refers to general tests of differences between groups, whereas the "pairwise comparison" column provides the precise location of differences between groups. a=MPM-only vs. <=3 homework activities; b=MPM-only vs. >=4 homework activities; c=<=3 vs. >=4 homework activities. | ||||||
| Table 5. Percentage of students reporting specific knowledge or behaviors, or mean score for dependent variables, by number of homework assignments completed | |||||||
| Variable | All students | MPM-only | No. of assignments completed | Pairwise comparison | Overall significance | ||
| 0-1 | 2-3 | 4-5 | |||||
| (N=351) | (N=161) | (N=69) | (N=44) | (N=77) | |||
| Self-efficacy for refusal/avoidance | |||||||
| Overall | 16.3 | 15.8 | 16.9 | 16.6 | 17.0 | a*, b** | .01 |
| Substance refusal/ avoidance | 6.5 | 6.2 | 6.7 | 6.5 | 7.0 | a*, b*** | .001 |
| Sexual refusal/ avoidance | 9.9 | 9.6 | 10.4 | 10.1 | 10.0 | ns | |
| Behavioral intentions | |||||||
| Likely to have sex before finishing high school | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | b*** | .01 |
| Parent-child communications | |||||||
| Overall frequency† | 6.5 | 5.8 | 6.0 | 7.6 | 7.4 | b*, c* | .05 |
| Puberty/physiological changes† | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | ns | |
| Sexual expectations† | 3.2 | 3.0 | 2.7 | 3.8 | 3.5 | ns | |
| Prevention strategies† | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 1.7 | b***, c* | .01 |
| Consequences of sexual intercourse† | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.6 | ns | |
| Frequency of discussions about class activities | |||||||
| Class lessons | 2.2 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 2.7 | b***, c***, d**, e*** | .0001 |
| Homework assignments | 2.1 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 3.5 | a***, b***, c***, d***, e***, f** | .0001 |
| Substance use and sexual behaviors | |||||||
| Lifetime alcohol use | 2.0 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 1.8 | a*, b** | .05 |
| Recent alcohol use‡ | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.3 | ns | |
| Went further sexually than wanted to go§ | 1.6 | 1.5 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 0.9 | a**, d**, e*** | .01 |
| Ever had sexual intercourse (%) | 6.4 | 7.0 | 10.6 | 2.3 | 3.9 | ns | |
| Recent sexual intercourse (%)† | 4.4 | 4.4 | 10.6 | 0.0 | 1.3 | d*, e* | .05 |
| * p<=.05. ** p<=.01. *** p<=.001. **** p<=.0001. †In the past three months.‡In the past 30 days. §Among adolescents in this situation in the past three months. Notes: The "overall significance" column refers to general tests of differences between groups, whereas the "pairwise comparison" column provides the precise location of differences between groups. a=MPM-only vs. 0-1; b=MPM-only vs. 4-5; c=MPM-only vs. 2-3; d=0-1 vs. 2-3; e=0-1 vs. 4-5; f=2-3 vs. 4-5. ns=nonsignificant. | |||||||
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© copyright 2001, The Alan Guttmacher Institute. |