Reducing the Risk: Evidence Summary
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Reducing the Risk is a high-school-level curriculum designed to help students delay the initiation of sex or increase the use of protection against pregnancy and STD/HIV if they choose to have sex. It is one of the first rigorously evaluated sexuality education curricula to have a measurable impact on behavior, and the first curriculum that has been independently implemented and evaluated in three different states and been found to significantly improve one or more sexual behaviors in each.
In a California study:
- Reducing the Risk delayed the onset of intercourse at 18 months among sexually inexperienced students by as much as 24% and reduced the rate of unprotected intercourse by 40% (Kirby, et al., 1991).
- The program significantly increased teens’ knowledge and communication with parents regarding abstinence and contraception.
In an Arkansas study:
- Reducing the Risk both delayed the initiation of sex among youth who had not had sex at pretest and increased condom use among those youth who did initiate sex (Hubbard, Giese and Raney, 1998).
In a Kentucky study:
- Reducing the Risk significantly delayed the initiation of sex (Zimmerman, et al., 2008).
The greatest emphasis of Reducing the Risk is teaching students the interpersonal or social skills they can use to abstain or protect themselves. Abstinence is presented as the best, safest and most common choice for high school students, but Reducing the Risk also recognizes that some students are sexually active. For this reason, students are given clear guidelines and rationales for using protection during sex.
Reducing the Risk key skills:
- Refusals – Responses that clearly say no in a manner that doesn’t jeopardize a good relationship, but which leave no ambiguity about the decision not to have sex or to refuse unprotected sex.
- Delaying tactics and alternative actions – Ways students can avoid a situation or delay taking action until they have time to decide what to do or say, or until they are more prepared to make a decision.
Roleplays are an essential and powerful part of Reducing the Risk. At first, students may be hesitant about their performances, but they soon begin to enjoy these opportunities and use them to great advantage. Teachers help students by encouraging them to practice their interpersonal skills in the roleplays. The more students practice effectively saying no to sex (or to unprotected sex), the more likely they’ll be to use these skills in real life.
References:
Kirby, D., R. Barth, N. Leland and J.V. Fetro. 1991. Reducing the Risk: Impact of a new curriculum on sexual risk-taking. Family Planning Perspectives 23 (6): 253-263.
Hubard, B.M., M.L. Giese and J. Rainey. 1998. A replication of Reducing the Risk, a theory-based sexuality curriculum for adolescents. Journal of School Health 68 (6): 243-247.
Zimmerman, R.S., P.K. Cupp, L. Donohew, C. Sionean, S. Feist-Price and D. Helme. 2008. Effects of a school-based, theory-driven HIV and pregnancy prevention curriculum. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 40 (1): 42-51.
