Interventions to reduce sexual risk behaviors among youth in alternative schools: a randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: This paper presents results from a randomized controlled trial that assessed the short- and longer-term impact of a skills-based HIV/STI/pregnancy prevention curriculum, service learning, and the combination.

Methods: The study featured a four-arm experimental design involving 47 classrooms (765 youth) from continuation high schools. Classrooms were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (1) HIV/STI/pregnancy prevention curriculum only; (2) service learning only; (3) HIV/STI/pregnancy prevention curriculum plus service learning; or (4) an attention control curriculum. Students completed 3 surveys over 18 months. Multi-level analysis was used to adjust for the correlation among students within the same classroom and school, and the correlation of repeated measurements.

Results: Participants were 53% male (mean age: 16.2 years). The majority of youth reported being Hispanic/Latino or African-American (37.9% and 22.3%, respectively). Students in the HIV/STI/pregnancy prevention curriculum condition were less likely to have vaginal intercourse without a condom in the 3 months prior to the survey [odds ratio (OR) = .58, p = .04]; these effects diminished by final follow-up. The program also significantly reduced students' exposure to risky situations. These changes were not significant in the service learning only or combined intervention conditions relative to control.

Conclusion: This study is one of a few controlled studies of HIV/STI and pregnancy prevention programs in continuation settings, and suggests the curriculum was effective in changing selected risk behaviors in the short term.