Teens who were exposed to the school-based drug abuse prevention program Project Alert were less likely to engage in certain types of risky sexual behaviors than were teens who did not participate in the program.

According to an April 29 article on the ScienceDaily medical news website, researchers with the RAND Corporation reached this conclusion after surveying 1,901 unmarried 21-year-olds:

The study found that youth exposed to a drug abuse education program were significantly less likely as young adults to either engage in sex with multiple partners or to have unprotected sex because of drug and alcohol use than their peers who had not received the training.

Young adults exposed to Project ALERT were both less likely to have sex with multiple partners (44 percent versus 50 percent) and to have unprotected sex because of drug use (27 percent versus 32 percent) than their peers who had not been exposed to the program.

The effect of drug prevention education on teen sex isn't ideal, as the RAND researchers noted that about 71 percent of the study subjects reported not using condoms every time they had sex -- a percentage that was not altered by exposure to Project ALERT.

Unsafe sex is one of many dangerous behaviors that threaten the healthy development of many young people. Other dangers include drug use, alcohol abuse, tobacco use, poor school attendance, and inappropriate behaviors -- problems that some young people are unable to overcome until begin to work with therapeutic personnel who staff a teen substance abuse program.

Labels: prevention, drug use, schools, sex, teenagers

Posted By: Aspen/CRC