Changes in sexual behavior following a sex education program in Brazilian public schools Mudanças no comportamento sexual de adolescentes de escolas públicas no Brasil após um programa de educação sexual

This paper describes an evaluation of possible changes in sexual behavior in adolescents who participated in a school-based sex education program in selected public schools in four municipalities in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The program is inserted within the context of reproductive rights, deals with risks involved in unsafe sexual practices and focuses on the positive aspects of sexuality. A quasi-experimental design with pre and post-tests and a non-equivalent control group was used to evaluate the intervention. A total of 4,795 questionnaires were included in this analysis. The program succeeded in more than doubling consistent condom use with casual partners and in increasing the use of modern contraceptives during last intercourse by 68%. The intervention had no effect on age at first intercourse or on adolescents’ engagement in sexual activities. The sex education program was effective in generating positive changes in the sexual behavior of adolescents, while not stimulating participation in sexual activities. Sexual Behavior; Sex Education; Adolescents Introduction Over the past twenty years, increased attention has been paid to adolescent reproductive health issues and to the awareness that adolescence is the appropriate time at which to introduce interventions to improve their present and future health and social welfare in many developed and developing countries 1. International organizations and many governments consider sexual and reproductive health and the prevention of drug use and violence as important elements in a comprehensive approach to adolescent health 2. Formal sexual health education for adolescents has been influenced by changing government policies and by public opinion. Consequently, it is imbued with different ideologies and is organized according to a diversity of strategies. The degree of success of these programs in promoting behavioral changes varies from one to another, but overall they result in the adoption of safer sexual practices by youth 3. In Brazil, sex education programs that target adolescents started to be implemented at the beginning of the last century. In the late 1980s, apart from a few religion-related programs, the majority of Brazilian sex education initiatives dealt with sexuality as a positive and healthy experience, in many cases as a partnership between nongovernmental organizations and the public sector. Within the latter approach, some educators began to deal with sex education in a political Cad. Saúde Pública, Rio de Janeiro, 25(5):1168-1176, mai, 2009 1168 ARTIGO ARTICLE