Effect of a Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Program on Secondary School Students in Phetchaburi Province

Abstract

The teenage pregnancy rate in Thailand remains higher than that defined by World Health Organization. This study aimed to examine the effect of a teenage pregnancy prevention program on knowledge about sex and pregnancy prevention, attitudes toward sexual intercourse, and intention to prevent teenage pregnancy, before and after participating in the program. The participants were 230 female secondary school students selected by a multi-stage random sampling technique from representative schools in eight districts of Phetchaburi province. The research instruments were a teenage pregnancy prevention program and three questionnaires:  the knowledge about sex and pregnancy prevention, the attitude toward early sexual intercourse, and the intention to prevent teenage pregnancy questionnaires. The instruments were validated by three experts. The reliability of the three questionnaires was established by KR-20 at .82 and Cronbach’s α coefficient at .88 and .88, respectively. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Paired t-tests. The paired t-tests indicated that, after participating with the program, the students had significantly higher scores on the knowledge about sex and pregnancy prevention, attitude toward sexual intercourse, and intention to prevent teenage pregnancy questionnaires,  t(299) = 9.37, p < .05, d = 0.65,  t(299) = 7.54, p < .05, d = 0.68 and t(299) = 10.62, p < .05, d = 0.72, respectively. This indicated that this program is capable of enhancing the knowledge, positive attitudes, and intention to prevent teenage pregnancy among secondary school students. Therefore, it should be used as part of activities to promote knowledge, motivation, and skills to prevent teenage pregnancy in secondary school students.