Teen Drug Education Also Helps Curb Risky Sexual Behavior

School-based drug education programs for adolescents can have a long-term positive impact on sexual behavior in addition to curbing substance abuse, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

Researchers found that young adults who had been exposed to a popular drug abuse prevention program as adolescents were less likely to engage in risky sexual behavior five to seven years later, according to the findings published online by the Journal of Adolescent Health. The study provides the strongest evidence to date that drug abuse prevention programs can also curb risky sexual practices in young adulthood.

"The lessons these young people learned about how to avoid drug and alcohol abuse appears to have had a positive impact on their sexual behavior as well," said Phyllis Ellickson, the lead author of the study and a researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.

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.

Source: ScienceDaily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090429111247.htm

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