From Science Daily, a new study indicates that educating teens about healthy relationships can reap positive results:
A school-based program that integrates information about healthy relationships into the existing ninth-grade curriculum appears to reduce adolescent dating violence and increase condom use two and a half years later, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. The effects of the low-cost intervention appear stronger in boys.
In an accompanying editorial, published with the study, Candice L. Odgers, Ph.D, of the University of California, Irvine, and Michael A. Russell, M.A., write:
“This study contributes to what we know about the prevention of adolescent dating violence in two important ways. First, randomization of adolescents to an intervention condition provides support for the position that school-based interventions can have causal effects on adolescents’ romantic relationships, although this may be true only for boys,” they continue. “Second, this study provides proof of principle that effective classroom-based interventions targeting relationship violence can be delivered by leveraging existing resources (e.g., teacher time and modifications to existing curriculum) and for the relatively low cost of $16 per student.”
