Abstinence and abstinence-only education

Abstract

Purpose of review-To review recent literature on medical accuracy, program effectiveness, and ethical concerns related to abstinence-only policies for adolescent sexuality education.Recent findings-The federal government invests over 175 million dollars annually in 'abstinence-only-until-marriage' programs. These programs are required to withhold information on contraception and condom use, except for information on failure rates. Abstinence-only curricula have been found to contain scientifically inaccurate information, distorting data on topics such as condom efficacy, and promote gender stereotypes. An independent evaluation of the federal program, several systematic reviews, and cohort data from population-based surveys find little evidence of efficacy and evidence of possible harm. In contrast, comprehensive sexuality education programs have been found to help teens delay initiation of intercourse and reduce sexual risk behaviors. Abstinence-only polices violate the human rights of adolescents because they withhold potentially life-saving information on HIV and other STIs.Summary-Federal support of abstinence-only as an approach to adolescent sexuality education is of much concern due to medical inaccuracies, lack of effectiveness, and the withholding and distorting of health information.

The HIV Epidemic: High-Income Countries

“…Combination interventions are now being explored (Barrow et al 2008;Corsi and Booth 2008;Buchbinder 2009;Rotheram-Borus et al 2009;Burns et al 2010;Cohen et al 2010;Crawford and Vlahov 2010;DeGruttola et al 2010;El-Bassel et al 2010;Read 2010;Reynolds and Quinn 2010), as are behavioral approaches with a better base in evidence Harshbarger et al 2006;Lyles et al 2006;Wingood and DiClemente 2006;Margaret Dolcini et al 2010). One strategy has been a conspicuous failure, namely "abstinence only" education, discovered to be associated with higher pregnancy rates than more comprehensive approaches that also highlighted STD prevention with condom use (Ott and Santelli 2007;Kohler et al 2008;Trenholm et al 2008). It is thought that the more pragmatic sexual education approaches in Europe and Australia, with structural changes like widespread provision of condom dispensing machines in bathrooms, may explain why the heterosexual epidemic among heterosexuals has been lower than in the United States where comprehensive sex education and condom advertising and distribution have been comparatively curtailed (Dworkin and Ehrhardt 2007).…”

Reasons for and Challenges of Recent Increases in Teen Birth Rates: A Study of Family Planning Service Policies and Demographic Changes at the State Level

“…The total funding of such programs nearly tripled, from $60 million in 1998 to $168 million in 2006 [8]. The abstinence-only education program has been criticized as one of the reasons for increasing teen birth rates because of not only its ineffectiveness in reducing sexual activity, but also the exclusion of effective sex education including contraceptive use that has been proven to reduce teen birth rates [9,10]. However, except for a few small-scale evaluations, there is no evidence indicating that abstinence-only programs cause increased teen birth rates at the population level [11,12].…”

Birth Control - Current Contraception Devices and Medications: Clinical Review

“…However patients must be informed that the ONLY form of birth control that is 100% effective against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases is ABSTINENCE. 2,[12][13][14][15] ii. Doctors just do not want to talk to patients about this but it is a sad part of our 21 st Century existence.…”