Does abstinence-only education work? Everyone is in agreement that abstinence until marriage can eliminate both sexually transmitted infections and unwanted teen pregnancies, but can we reasonably expect abstinence-only education to make a difference? 

Tracking the effectiveness of abstinence-only education has been difficult. First, not all abstinence education is created equal – some programs and some approaches are better than others. Early data indicated that some elements worked while others failed.  

Second, many programs failed to gain enough traction in the schools they worked with to deliver a consistent message long enough. With schools opting in and out, in and out, teens never really got the message. Considering all of the media that spread a message of casual sex and short-term relationships, this lack of consistency worked against programs.

Research results now, though, are beginning to distinguish between those factors and programs that work and those that don’t. The conclusion on Worth the Wait? It works.

Worth the Wait (WTW) has been a leading program in research since 2000. Through a partnership with Professor J. F. Tanner Jr. at Baylor University, WTW has participated in a consortium of faculty from Baylor, Clemson University, West Florida State, Xavier, and others. In addition, faculty from disciplines as varied as health education and marketing have contributed.

This consortium has published a wide range of articles documenting WTW’s progress.  Some of this research is summarized below:

Pledging to Remain Abstinent – Recent media attention was given to a study (not by WTW) that indicated that students who pledge to remain abstinent are only likely to delay by some 18 months. One effective strategy studied by WTW is the use of pledge renewals. This finding has not yet been published in a journal but is under review.

Parents – Potentially the most influential factor in a teen’s decision to remain abstinent is the parents’ ability to transfer values to the teen. Values such as the importance of respect and responsibility in a relationship, the importance of education, and setting life goals are all values that empower teens to make good choices.

In spite of the central importance of parents, getting parents to take that responsibility is a tremendous challenge. WTW’s research on securing parent participation in programs designed to help raise teens suggests that parents who need the most help are the least likely to participate in programs.

One barrier to parental participation may be the parent’s own sexual history. Some 10% of parents who were sexually active as teens feel reluctant to try to shape their teens’ perceptions of what is appropriate. These parents believe they can’t tell their child to not do something that they did. Interestingly, the same percentage of parents who were abstinent as teens also feel reluctant because of their lack of experience.

WTW continues to engage in research in order to determine how to secure more parental participation in the drive to keep teens abstinent.

Teens – Those who argue that simply giving the information to teens and letting them make their own choices may be giving too much responsibility to teens. Teens in WTW research report having difficulty making good choices in simple areas such as shopping. Parents who teach decision making through effective shopping may actually be helping their teens make better decisions when it comes to alcohol or other substance use, cigarette smoking, and sexual activity. Better decision makers make better decisions.

WTW research also identified a key factor in the decision to remain abstinent – the instrumental value of remaining abstinent in order to achieve important life goals. When teens believe that teen pregnancy can make achieving their life goals difficult or impossible, they are far more likely to choose abstinence.

Sexual activity is directly reduced by participation in WTW programs. In one county, the ten pregnancy rate was cut in half. Teen pregnancies have gone down all across the state, but in those counties served by WTW, pregnancies are down at a rate 50% greater than elsewhere. That’s because sexual activity is reduced by some 30% in the first year of implementation, and more in the years following.

Current Projects – WTW and the consortium of researchers are currently studying several factors likely to influence program effectiveness. For example, how children of different cultures respond to abstinence education is likely to be a function of their culture. Working within those complex tapestries, WTW is exploring a number of strategies designed to involve parents and to encourage teens to make greater use of assets that the community offers.

In addition, teens are not all equally likely to tell the truth to researchers about their sexual activity, even if guaranteed anonymity. Such variance in responding to questions can cause all sorts of havoc when trying to understand the program’s effect. Researchers are working with WTW to create more effective measures and to estimate the impact of such behavior on data.

Just how much programming is needed? Dosage is an important characteristic of abstinence programs yet little is known about how much education is need to really influence changes in behavior. Studies are currently underway to help determine the right amount of programming.

Scientific Publications by the Research Consortium

James A Roberts, Chris Manolis, and John F. Tanner Jr. (Forthcoming), “Adolescent Autonomy and the Impact of Family Structure on Materialism and Compulsive Buying,” Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice.

Les A. Carlson and John F. Tanner Jr. (2006), “Understanding Parental Beliefs and Attitudes about Children's Sexual Behavior: Insights from Parental Style,” Journal of Consumer Affairs 40(1), 144-162.

James A. Roberts, John F. Tanner Jr., and Chris Manolis (2005) “Materialism and the Family Structure-Family Stress Relationship,” Journal of Consumer Psychology 15 (2), 183-185.

Cynthia Mitchell, John F. Tanner Jr., and Mary Anne Raymond (2004) “Adolescents’ Perceptions of Factors Influencing Values and Sexual Activity: Implications for Social Marketing Initiatives,” Journal of Nonprofit and Public Sector Marketing, 12 (2), 29-49.

Christopher Hopkins, John F. Tanner, Jr., and Mary Anne Raymond (2004), “Risk Avoidance and Risk Reduction: Reaching Teens at Risk,” Healthcare Marketing Quarterly 21 (3), 79-106.

Rodney Bowden, Beth Lanning, Rusty Pippin, and John F. Tanner Jr. (2003), “Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Abstinence-Only Sex Education Curricula,” Education 123 (4), 780-788.

James Roberts, Chris Manolis, and John F. Tanner Jr. (2003), “Family Structure, Materialism, and Compulsive Buying:  A Re-inquiry of Rindfleisch, Burroughs, and Denton (1997),” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 31 (3), 300-311.

Michael LaTour and John F. Tanner Jr. (2003), “Appealing to our Fears of Radon as the Phantom Menace,” Psychology & Marketing 20 (5), 377-394. (Does not use the WTW data but is an interesting application of social marketing theory)

David R. Eppright, James B. Hunt, John F. Tanner Jr., and George R. Franke (2002), “Fear, Coping, and Information: A Pilot Study on Motivating a Healthy Response,” Journal Health Marketing Quarterly 20 (1), 51-73.(Also does not use WTW data but also uses similar theory)

James Roberts and John F. Tanner Jr. (2002), “Compulsive Buying and Sexual Attitudes, Intentions, and Activity Among Adolescents: An Extension of Roberts and Tanner 2000,” Psychology Reports 90, 1259-1260.

Jesse Moore, Mary Anne Raymond, John Mittelstaedt, and John F. Tanner, Jr., (2002), “Age and Consumer Socialization Agent Influences on Adolescents’ Sexual Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior: Implications for Social Marketing Initiatives and Public Policy,” Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Vol. 21 (1), Spring, 37-52.

James A. Roberts and John F. Tanner Jr. (2000), "Compulsive Buying and Risky Behavior Among Adolescents," Psychological Reports 86, 763-770.

Presentations

Stacey Ladd and John F. Tanner Jr. (2005), “Evaluating Community Saturation Abstinence Programs: A Case Study,” presented at the Abstinence Education Evaluation Conference, Office of Population Affairs, Baltimore Maryland, November 2-5, 2005.

John F. Tanner Jr., Les Carlson, Chris Hopkins, and Mary Anne Raymond (2005), “Parental Involvement in Teen Risk Avoidance,” abstract presented at American Marketing Association Summer Educators’ Conference.

John F. Tanner Jr. (2005), “Evaluation of Community Health Programs Designed to Promote Abstinence and STD Screening,” in Tailoring Health Messages, Sara Rubinelli and Joachim Haes eds., Health Care Comunication Laboratory, Universita’ della Svizzera Italiana, 117-124.

John F. Tanner Jr. and Stacey Ladd (2005), “Measuring the Effectiveness of Community Saturation Programs: One Program’s Results,” Medical Institute Conference on Abstinence, Washington DC (June 15).

John F. Tanner Jr., Les Carlson and Samantha Gammel (2004), “Factors Influencing Parents Abstinence Teaching Behavior,” Medical Institute Conference on Abstinence, Washington DC (June 20).

John F. Tanner Jr. and Les Carlson “Parenting Styles and Raising Abstinent Children,” 2004 American Marketing Association Marketing and Public Policy Conference.

John F. Tanner Jr., Chris Hopkins, Mary Anne Raymond (2003), “Risk Avoidance and Risk Reduction: Reaching Teens at Risk,” Society for Marketing Advances.

Chris Hopkins, Mary Anne Raymond, John F. Tanner Jr. (2003), “Understanding “Non-Behavior:” Modifying the Theory of Planned Behavior to Account for Abstinence,” Society for Marketing Advances.

John F. Tanner Jr. (2003), “Issues in Local Evaluation,” presented to the Risk Avoidance Conference, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington DC (February 5).

John F. Tanner Jr. (2001), “Abstinence Curriculum Effectiveness: Three Years of Results,” McLennan County Collaborative Abstinence Educators Conference.

Michael Latour and John F. Tanner Jr. (2001), "Appealing to Fears for Our Children: Radon, the Phantom Menace," Marketing Advances in Pedagogy, Process and Philosophy, proceedings of the Society of Marketing Advances (winner, Best Paper in Track), Tracy Suter ed., 23-24.

John F. Tanner Jr. (2000), "Evaluating McCAP and Other Abstinence Programs," Texas Council of Abstinence Educators Conference.