Raising the Behavior Bar II

The most statistically significant risk protective factor against teen pregnancy is the perceived consequence of pregnancy....

The biggest surprise of this study is in the area of adolescent pledges of virginity.

The protective ability of a teen virginity pledge to remain abstinent is so statistically significant as to be in a league of its own.

In fact, the virginity pledge is three times greater a protective factor than the next greatest protective factor.

[JAMA (Journal of American Medical Assoc.), "Protecting Adolescents From Harm: Findings From the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health", September 1997; Add Health study, "Reducing the Risk:Connections That Make a Difference in the Lives of Youth", http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/addhealth/faqs/addhealth/Reducing-the-risk.pdf ; http://www.mnddc.org/extra/risk/page1.htm ; http://casel.org/publications/reducing-the-risk-connections-that-make-a-difference-in-the-lives-of-youth/]