Studies Cite Effects of Abstinence Programs

Abstinence-based programs of sex education help make younger students more aware of the potential negative consequences of nonmarital sex but do not improve their self-esteem, refusal skills, or communication with their parents regarding sex, a federally financed study released last week suggests.

The study, conducted for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by researchers at Mathematica Policy Research Inc., in Princeton, N.J., and the University of Pennsylvania, scrutinized data on elementary and middle school students in four abstinence programs nationwide that receive federal funding, as well as on their peers who received a variety of other forms of sex education at school or from community-based providers.

The study did not examine the impact of the programs on the sexual behaviors of participants, who ranged from...